Hope
The election of 2020 is over… finally. During the runup to the actual vote, we heard a lot about “hope” from both political parties. So, what is hope really?
One thing is for certain, it isn’t found in any political party. Oh sure, political parties make promises and even occasionally deliver on some of them, but they are not equipped to deliver real hope. Why? Because real hope is based on truth and the credibility of the one making the promise.
Biblical hope rests on the credibility of God to keep His promises. Did you catch that? The CREDIBILITY of God. How credible is God? There are over 3500 promises made by God that are recorded in the Bible. Without exception, all of them (except for those relating to the end times) have been fulfilled by Him.
All of them. That’s credibility!
The biblical view of hope is thus significantly different from the idea of hope found in our 21st century society. Today’s idea of hope is more wishful thinking than something based on fact and credibility. God doesn’t deal in wishful thinking; when He makes a promise, it will be fulfilled. Some promises are conditional while some are unconditional.
A conditional promise is one like Romans 10:13 “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Another is 1 John 1:9 “But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” God promises that if we will do a certain thing, then He will always respond a certain way…every time.
Unconditional promises don’t require any action on our part. John 8:12 “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, I am the light of the world. If you follow Me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” He is the light of the world whether we follow Him or not.
You may be pleased that Senator Biden won the presidency and will begin serving in early 2021 or you may be depressed that President Trump will be leaving the White House at the same time. Either way, if your hope rests in who is the President of the United States, you will eventually be disappointed. In the same way, if your hope is in your next paycheck, your 401k, your job, or even your own abilities, you will suffer frustration.
However, if you place your hope in God and His promises, you will not be disappointed.