It’s been said that you can go a month without food, you can live three days without water, but you can't go more than sixty seconds without HOPE. Without hope, life’s troubles bring discouragement, depression, despair, and even death. It is no accident that above the entrance to Dante's hell is the inscription: "Leave behind all hope, you who enter here."
But hope to a lot of people is just wishful thinking and blind optimism. Despite misfortune, people “hope” things will go well. I hope the wars in Gaza and Ukraine end soon, I hope the cost of groceries are cut in half this year, I hope my kids clean their rooms without me telling them to, I hope we can have a fun conversation about politics, and I hope people like this blog! Wishful thinking? Perhaps. But certainly, it is a different kind of hope than Peter is taking about in his first letter.
Peter wrote to a suffering church. He writes with the love of a pastor who is caring for his flock. Peter identifies with their pain without being evasive or fatalistic. He speaks very directly, referring to their suffering some sixteen times as he brings them comfort and practical counsel.
And within this context, Peter speaks about hope. In fact, hope is the central theme of the letter. When we live as sojourners on earth, and in constant communion with God, we can enjoy the life of hope regardless of the external circumstances and present sufferings.
By almost any point of comparison, we have it pretty easy. Some might even say too easy for our actual good. But even if that’s true, I know we have all faced seasons of hopelessness. I have for sure, and it’s an awful feeling! Fear, anxiety, uncertainty are all emotions peddled by Satan and they can be extremely depressing and debilitating.
In contrast, HOPE – real and living hope – is encouraging and empowering!
- Hope moves us forward:Christian hope is a realistic expectation of and joyful longing for future good and glory based upon the reliable word of God. Hope diminishes drag and increases momentum.
- Hope energizes the present: It is worth living today because the eternal tomorrow is so much brighter. What’s doomsday for most, is coronation day for us. What most dread, we desire.
- Hope lightens our darkness:Hope does not deny or remove the reality of pain. However, it does shine a bright light into these valleys and points to the sunrise at the end of them.
- Hope increases faith:Faith fuels hope but hope also fuels faith. Believers are, or at least should, be great hopers. Just take a look at Hebrews 11!
- Hope is infectious:Just as we can drag others down by our recriminations and moping, so we can inspire and motivate through our inspiring hoping. It even impacts depressed unbelievers who cannot but ask a reason for the hope they see in us.
- Hope is practical: Hope motivates action. When we hope for better days for the church, we serve the church. When we hope for the conversion of our children, we are motivated to share the Gospel with them. When we hope for God’s blessing of His Word, we listen to it much more attentively. Hope produces active and willing obedience.
- Hope is healing:By definition, depression is a sense of hopelessness, a feeling that things cannot and will not get better. Hope itself is a huge step towards healing.
- Hope stabilizes in the storm: As one puritan put it: “The cable of faith casts out the anchor of hope and lays hold of the steadfast rock of God’s promises.”
- Hope defends:Paul depicts hope as a defensive helmet that must not be taken off and laid aside until the battle is over. The helmet also points us to the area of greatest vulnerability and danger – our mind or thoughts. That’s where Satan usually works to present reasons to doubt and despair. And that’s why we need our minds daily renewed by the power of hope.
This kind of certain and living hope is anchored in the past—Jesus rose from the dead. It continues in the present—Jesus is alive. And it endures throughout the future—Jesus promises eternal, resurrection life. Hope is a person, a promise, and a place.
I pray that we may truly and fully enjoy the gift of “Christ in us,” which Colossians 1:27 calls “the hope of glory.”