At Your Wit's End (Part 13)

Piercing our hopelessness is the reality that "the Lord is the hope of His people" and "the God of hope." The Lord Jesus Christ is the source of hope!

There is hope:
-In His righteousness-Galatians 5:5.
-His calling-Ephesians 4:4.
-His glory-Colossians 1:27.
-His gospel Colossians 1:27.
-His salvation-1 Thessalonians 5:8.
-His grace-2 Thessalonians 2:16.

The Apostle Paul declared that our hope is not limited by time, but extends to eternity:

1 Corinthians 15:19 "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable."

The righteous can rest in hope because even in death we have the hope of eternal life for the soul and spirit. You have full assurance of your spiritual hope because it is secured by God's Word.

Jeremiah declares in Jeremiah 17:7, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord."

David said in Psalms 146:5, "Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God." 

We are blessed and happy in evil times because we hope in God who declares that even the valley of Achor (trouble) will become a door of hope:

Hosea 2:15 "I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt."

Because our hope will be rewarded we are admonished in Lamentations 3:26 to "hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."

Hope is not something you work up or pray down, it is a gift of God through grace:

2 Thessalonians 2:16 "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace.

While hope is a gift from God, you have the responsibility to maintain it. The Bible directs us to:

-Exercise hope toward God-Acts 24:15.

-Wait in hope-Galatians 5:5.

-Rejoice in hope-Romans 5:2;12:12.

-Anticipate the hope reserved for us in Heaven-Colossians 1:5. 

-Abound in hope, which means "have enough to spare, a supply that is overflowing, excessive without measure"-
Romans 15:13.

-Hold hope fast-Hebrews 3:6.

-Look forward to that blessed hope-Titus 2:13.

-Lay hold on the hope set before us-Hebrews 6:18.

Don't despair when you face situations for which there seems to be no answer because hope is actually generated by the difficulties of life:

Romans 5:3, 4 "But we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope."