Expected Hope

“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Romans 5:5

Many people casually use the word hope to connote a possibility that something good will happen. Thoughts like, I hope it will get better, I hope I pass, I hope it will be sunny today, and I hope I get approved. And the expectation is like left to chance. Hope is maybe it will, maybe it won’t. And some folks will cross their fingers thinking that by doing this that the odds will bend in their favor. Of course, folks desire the best, but that is just it. Hope is wishful thinking with no surety if it can be a reality. But you know, as I examine the definition for hope, it includes to “expect with confidence.” And as I think about it further, the question becomes where is the confidence of your expectation? When we look at what John Gill’s Exposition on the Romans 5:5 text cites, he states “against all visible rational grounds of hope.” We tend to hope, but we based it on what we know can work and relegate it to chance. So when we look to human rationale, there is no confidence in the expectation because we don’t have any control over our present circumstances, the people around us, our environment and of course our future.

But when you place your confidence in God, then now hope truly becomes expectation, a strong belief, a presumption. Why? Because God is in control of everything! He is All-knowing, All-powerful, and ever-present. He can make the impossible possible. There is nothing too hard for God. That’s why Abraham was able to believe that he and Sarah would have a child. They weren’t looking at their circumstances, their physical condition, and their elderly age, but they were placing the confidence in a God that can truly do anything. And moreover, per the scripture Romans 5:5, we can be confident in hope because God’s love is shed upon us. God loves us, and He got our back. When someone loves you, they will be there for you. They will take care of you and see you through. And that is God. He is concern about you and what concerns you. In fact, Psalms 138:8 says that The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. So with that in mind, the hope we have in God is a hope that we can truly stand on.

by Dianne Tam