We are familiar with the statement in I Corinthians 13:13: “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” We hear many messages about faith and charity, but not so many about hope. Yet Paul wrote in Romans 8:24 that we are saved by hope. It is essential. Without hope, we are hopeless.
Hope is a powerful force. Hope can lift a soul from despair and despondency into joy and happiness. Only humans are capable of hoping for a better tomorrow; animals have no ability to generate hope in their minds.
Modern man defines hope as a desire for things to happen. But for a child of God, with the hope God provides, it is something more. Ordinarily, when humans express hope, we are expressing uncertainty. “I hope it doesn’t rain today,” or “I hope my team wins next week.”
But this is not the distinctive biblical meaning of hope. Biblical hope isn’t just wishful thinking. It isn’t like hoping for a good raise on the job or hoping for a mild winter. Biblical hope is not just a desire for something good in the future, but rather, biblical hope is a confident expectation and desire for something good in the future. It’s a desire for something good coupled with a confidence that God is going to do what He promised.
I’m referring to the hope that is founded upon the promises of God. Biblical hope is a confidence that our God will do what He said He will do. Biblical hope not only desires something good for the future — it expects it to happen. And it not only expects it to happen — it is confident that it will happen. There is feeling of certainty that the good we expect and desire will happen.
Our confidence is strong, because of the One who holds tomorrow in His hands. His promises are immutable. Immutable means incapable of being changed. And God’s plan and promises will happen: they are not changeable whims. They are future facts.
We read in Hebrews 6:17-19: “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast…”
Our hope is fused with confident expectation because of two immutable things about God: (1) His unchanging word (He cannot lie) and (2) the oath He took. That hope is the anchor that holds our souls steadfast. Through storms, winds of adversity, and shifting tides of doubt, the anchor holds and keeps our frail bark from crashing on the rocks.
The Bible speaks often of the wonderful hope God’s promises have generated in out hearts. See, e.g. Psalms 71:5: “For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.” If you put too much hope and trust in anything else or anyone else, you will likely be disappointed and hurt. But if you place your trust in the Lord God, He will never disappoint you. Psalms 118:8
Our greatest hope is that one day all suffering, pain, loss, and evil will be gone. We will rejoice in a new heaven and earth. We will be like Him, with a glory like the glory of God’s only begotten Son. Romans 5:1-2.
This isn’t just a tiny bit of hope, but one that abounds. “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Romans 15:13. We can have hope to receive the glory of God because He is the “God of hope.” Not only the God of patience and consolation, verse 5, but of hope.
All of our confident hopes are tied to our faith in God and His immutable promises. We abound with hope. That’s why we can confidently face whatever troubles and difficulties in life.
It is important to remember that not all our hope is for life after death. We also rest in hope that our God will take care of us as we traverse the valley of the shadow of death. In our difficulties, our distresses, our uncertainties, and our fears, we can turn to the One who said, “I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.”
An Exit Door
There is an interesting reference in Hosea 2. It contains God’s promise of the restoration of Israel, but it also shows a principle aspect of God’s character. This is what God will do for His people - for Israel, and for the members of the body of Christ.
Hosea 2:14-15 says. “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.”
I want to focus on phrase: “I will give her a door of hope in the valley of Achor.” What is the valley of Achor? We have to turn back to the book of Joshua to understand this reference. Achan stole forbidden objects in the destruction of Jericho. His transgression caused Israel to lose a battle, and several soldiers to die. He brought trouble on Israel.
Joshua 7:24-26 says, “And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.”
The valley of Achor is the valley of trouble. Achan brought trouble on all Israel. He brought grief to families of soldiers who died in battle. Sin brought suffering on all the camp.
We, too, often find ourselves in a valley of Achor. We travel through valleys of trouble many times. Life under the curse is a life under stress; one of pain and sickness, of distress and worry. Sometimes we bring it on ourselves, but often it is just part of the universal suffering of life under the curse. Creation groans and travails. Romans 8:22. But we have hope, an earnest expectation, of glory in the future. Verse 19.
That hope sustains us. We were subjected to vanity, to the curse, but also given hope. So in the valleys of trouble, look for the door of hope. Things will get better - one way or another. Either in this life or most certainly in the world to come, things will get better.
A door is not only an entrance; it is also an exit. A door of hope in a valley of trouble means God has an exit from that trouble. Our hope provides a way out of the despair and doubt and discouragement of deep, dark troubles.
And not all of our hope is invested in a new heaven and earth. We have reason to hope for God’s good providential care in this life. Your situation is never hopeless.
If you are in the valley of Achor because of a bad medical diagnosis, there is a door of hope. If you have family troubles, or financial troubles, there is a door of hope. If you are sad, disheartened, or perplexed, there is a door of hope in your valley of Achor. The valley may be deep, dark, and dangerous; but the Lord has placed an exit door, a door of hope in that valley.