I Hope So

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11

How many times recently—or in your lifetime—have you heard someone say, “I hope so!”? You’ve probably said it yourself. It’s a common expression, with a universally understood meaning: the speaker wants something to happen. Everything from, “I hope it will be sunny tomorrow,” to “I hope he will beat the cancer,” expresses a natural desire for things to go our way. 

But is that really hope? It seems like a genie-in-the-bottle, desperation-borne statement more aligned with unicorns and magic dust than reality. Because we can want what we want all day long and not have the power to make it happen. How many outdoor weddings have been rained out when the bride hoped for sunshine? How many diseases have taken a life instead of the hoped-for healing? 

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems fitting to review what it means to have hope, to be hopeful, and to accept the reality of Biblical hope. We are people living in a post-resurrection world. If anyone should have hope in spite of the circumstances, it’s those who believe in Jesus.

Hope is that rare commodity, a “four-letter word” that is positive. It exists on more than one plane of meaning. Certainly, hope is a feeling. We have an expectation that something will happen. We desire that it will come to pass. We trust. On their own, these feelings can be easily dismissed or downplayed. Just because one expects the virus to end, wants it to be over, and trusts that day will come doesn’t make it so. 

Think about money. It is nothing more than bits of paper, in and of itself without meaning or value. The reason it has significance is that it is backed up by the government. In the past, actual gold supported currency, called the gold standard. In recent years, that solid foundation has given way to illusion. Money has value because the government says it does and everyone believes it and acts upon it. Not comforting.

Secular author Lewis H. Lapham puts it this way: “The complex mechanisms of the modern world depend as certainly on the faith in money as the structures of the medieval world depended on faith in God.” Also not comforting.

In Jesus, believers have the gold standard of hope. The feelings are real. And they are backed up by the incontrovertible Word of God. This means that our expression of certainty in the goodness of tomorrow is because God has made a promise to His people. By nature, hope is a way of looking forward. It is also an invisible commodity. As such, it is a tool of the Lord’s. Consider Romans 8:24-25:

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. 

So what, then, is the responsibility of believers in times of trial and disaster, such as wars, pandemics, political upheaval, or natural disaster? We can follow through on The Great Commission whether in person or via electronic means. Being His witnesses to the ends of the earth doesn’t require that we necessarily be physically present. It’s the message and the relationship that are important, not the venue through which it is delivered and built.

No one has ever seen God or experienced all the blessings of belief. Many are still to come, expected through faith and hope. We can communicate this ongoing process to anyone of any background. God’s love, mercy, peace, kindness, righteousness, and perfection, while difficult to see in times of trial, are still viable. When we consider our foundational belief that God wins, that His plan is perfect, that he only wants what is best for his people, it is a vision we can cast for others. 

Worldly hope will always fail. That failure will lead to anxiety, disappointment, or an inflated sense of control. It puts self at the center of everything. Godly hope will always succeed. Knowing that He will care for us in the next ten minutes as well as the next ten years frees us. That freedom translates to loving others over self, and ends up giving God the glory. Which is exactly where it belongs.

Even as the world struggles with fear, it is a perfect opportunity to share the message of fundamental, Scriptural hope. “I hope so” loses all uncertainty as that ambiguous hope is anchored in the person of Jesus. The Christ. Lord God. Our Savior.

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Psalm 127:7-8