What, then, is hope? Hope is part of who we are. Every person is born with hope. We are hard-wired from birth to hope. We hope because we are divinely created human beings. God created us to hope—to be hopeful, hope-filled people.

   The first thing we know about hope is that, try though we might, hope cannot be bought or acquired, nor can it be borrowed or loaned. Often we are inspired by the hope of others, but we soon learn that it is impossible to appropriate the hope of another or claim it as our own. Though we can encourage others in hope, hope is not a gift that we can either give or receive. Hope comes from within.

   Practically speaking, think about how many times a day you say, “I hope”. or “hopefully”. Seldom, if ever, do we hear anyone start a sentence with the word “Hopelessly”. As we grow and mature, we understand more about what hope is and what it means to hope. Over time we learn that hope is much more than an emotion. If you think about hope pragmatically, hope is what motivates us to get up in the morning because we look forward to whatever the day may hold. Whether or not we realize it, hope can reduce anxiety and relieve depression. Hope is energizing. When we have something to hope for and something to live for, our health and quality of life improve. We all need hope.

   We learn from experience as well what hope is not. Hope is not a blind conviction that everything will be okay. Hope is not naïve optimism. Hope is not wishful thinking. Hope is not a positive attitude. Hope is not a cheerful outlook on life. Hope is not a passive wish or dream. Hope is not a strategy for accomplishing our goals or living in fullness of life.

   At its most fundamental, hope is the inborn, God-given response of the human heart to every possibility for life in the here and now, and for whatever the future may hold. We read in Hebrews 11, verse 1, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” As we live faithfully in the assurance of hope, we experience the power of the unseen when it becomes reality in our life. Hope assures us that God has a plan for our life that will be revealed to us in God’s perfect timing.

   Hope, then, is a function of our faith and belief in God. Hope is an essential quality of our faith, because in faith, there is always hope. We are people of hope because we are people of faith. In Romans 8, verses 24-25 we read, “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Hope, then, is about patience and perseverance. More often than not, we lose sight of hope when we become impatient with God. When we lose sight of God, we lose sight of hope.

   We all know that trouble comes in many shapes and sizes. This might be the terminal illness of a spouse, a relative, or friend. Yet even if a loved one is hopelessly ill, inevitably we continue to hope. As long as that person is alive, it is not humanly possible to imagine what death will be like or how life will be beyond the final moment of earthly separation. Yet no matter what happens in life, or how dire or seemingly hopeless the circumstances may seem, as human beings it is always our first impulse to hope. Even when we despair, somewhere within the human heart there is always hope.

   Hopelessness is the dark underside of situations that stretch us in our faith. Without hope, it is easy to despair. When we despair, often we drift into defeated resignation or cynical acceptance. Scripture teaches us that hope leaves no room for despair. It is a sacred responsibility of our faith to practice hope rather than hopelessness. It is a sacred responsibility of our faith to live hopefully rather than in despair. We hope because we believe that in God, the best is yet to be.

In Psalm 42, verses 5-6 we read the question of hopelessness and the answer of hope, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.” The psalmist does not describe a process or a progression but rather cuts straight to the answer: we are to “Hope in God”. Why? Because God is our help, whatever our circumstance in life.

   According to New Testament scholar and author William Barclay, in partnership with God we must be active participants in the work of God to establish hope as one of the foundation stones of our life, “The power of God never dispenses with human effort. We must realize our own helplessness. Miracles happen when our will and God’s power make them possible. The thing is done when we make the effort along with Christ.” 

     If we live long enough, we discover that there is a vast difference between the ordinary, small and large disappointments of daily life and the total rupture of disappointed hope. Our hope for the future is bitterly disappointed if the vows of our marriage are betrayed. Our hope for the future is disappointed when the vision we have for our children is shattered by acts of unrepentant human will. Our hope for the future is disappointed when we lose our job and are unable to focus on anything other than the pain of rejection. Disappointed hope can take on a life of its own when one we love dies. Nothing in all of life breaks our heart and spirit like the death of one we love. No disappointment in life has the same power and force to wound us as death.

   A few days before Easter one year, I attended a Maundy Thursday service that focused on the love of the new commandment. In John 13, verse 34 we read, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another”.

   The mandate of the new commandment was illustrated that evening with the ancient ritual of foot washing, as described in John 13, verse 5, “Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him”. As a symbolic stream of water was poured from a pitcher into a basin, in an exquisite moment of spiritual grace, I heard the sound of poured love. 

   In Romans 5, verses 3-5 the Apostle Paul speaks to the enduring quality of hope through poured love, “…knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given us.”

   We are assured that God’s love is not trickled into our heart, or carefully measured and added in by the cupful. Rather, we are filled to capacity, sometimes to overflowing, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit. In the power of poured love, we experience God’s grace in the divine connection between hope and God’s love.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.
Romans 5:5