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Hope Again

“For in hope we have been saved, but the hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” [Romans 8: 24-25]. “Hope Again” is a continuation of my reflection on the text as it applies to the circumstances of people and nations as they wait on the promises of God at one point or another. I stated this point in the last issue that the hope that anchored the lives of people in the Bible speaks of assurance and certainties rather than probabilities and uncertainties and it is rooted in the certainty of the fulfillment of God’s promises in the lives of people. One word that Bible hope does not have is the word “hopefully.” Hopefully is a word that communicates probability and uncertainty and a mere wish or desire rather than the assurance of hope as God intends.

Hope sometimes involves complex generational dynamics. This simply means that the fulfillment of God’s promises sometimes spans or transcends several generations. In the case of which each generation looks forward with hope to the fulfillment of the promises of God. For example, several generations waited in hope for the fulfillment of the promise of Christ made to Abraham [Genesis 12: 3, Galatians 4: 4]. Hope always looks forward rather than backwards and it doesn’t wait aimlessly. As such, the time of waiting in hope must also be the time of living in hope. You cannot be waiting in hope for the promises of God in your life and at the same time be living hopelessly just as you cannot hope in the promises of a God that you do not believe in [Hebrews 11: 6]. Living in hope nurtures many challenges. Some challenges exist to prepare us for what God has promised us. Others exist to rob us of our hope while we are waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled in our lives. Prayer is the lifeline of a life in hope. And we must never forget that God’s promises are always fulfilled in the fullness of the time that only He determines [Galatians 4: 4].

Though hope is spiritual in nature, God’s promises are not limited to the spiritual. God’s promises include both the spiritual and the material [Luke 6: 38]. And let us also be mindful that both the spiritual and the material are need – based. God does not promise us or give us things that we do not need. The things that we do not need are really the things that cannot benefit anyone else but ourselves [James 4: 3]. And that is not God’s plan for blessing us. Let us also keep in mind that God will neither deprive nor deny us of any material or spiritual blessing that is needed to accomplish the things that would bring glory to His name. Our lack is not often because God lacks or cannot provide, but the result of our misconception and misdirection of His blessings. In the next issue you will read about a woman who through a clear understanding of God’s blessing was not afraid to part with God’s blessings in order to fulfill the grace of God in the life of others. And that is the whole meaning of being rich towards God [Luke 12: 16 -21]. I pray that you would discover and live life the way God intends for you.

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