What Does It Mean to Hope? Insights from the Book of Isaiah
in Spiritual Growth, Faith
The troubles of life often cast darkness upon us, leaving us defeated and depressed. A thick fog of doom covers the light, and it’s tempting to just submit. It’s obvious that we need to break through the dark fog, but how? What does it mean to hope? And how do you embrace that perspective while cowering in a bleak corner of your mind? Isaiah chapters 19-23 offer insights to encourage and guide us today. As God’s judgement looms over powerful, idolatrous nations of the world, we see the unexpected rise of hope that separates the defeated from the spiritually victorious. How do we walk the path of those who overcome and find where real hope lives? Here are truths necessary to hope during difficult times.
Hope Defined
Maybe there have been times in life when you have faced a challenge, circumstance, or difficulty and thought, “There’s no hope.” You felt the tremendous weight and discouragement and wanted to just give up or desperately seek a long-shot solution.
In our humanity, we search for hope in all manner of earthly things and in all the wrong places. We look to popular psychology, philosophy, materialism, wealth, work, romance, and the endless distraction of entertainment and mind-altering substances. We resort to these measures, because they are readily available, require little change, and almost no effort. Much of the time, we have low expectations for hope. We become content with temporary escape from the bleakness of life rather than a lifting of the fog entirely.
Obviously, that’s not the kind of hope we really want. So, what is real hope? Here are a couple of dictionary definitions:
- “desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment.” Merriam-Webster
- “something good that you want to happen in the future, or a confident feeling about what will happen in the future” Cambridge Dictionary
When we allow life to steal our hope, it means that we have no expectation that our needs, wants, or future will be fulfilled in a positive way. We have no hope that the future will be good. That is certainly a sad place to be.
But we see in God’s Word that there is always hope, and that hope is tied to faith and change. Hope is a very thrilling thing, because it means there is an answer, a solution, and a path forward: there is a light at the end of the tunnel. (And it’s not an oncoming train to crush us.) But what does this path look like? Consider what Isaiah reveals.
Hope Believes Change Is Possible
Before falling completely into the pit of despair, remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:26, “...With men it is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” So the question to ask is if you have enough faith in God to believe that He can change people, circumstances, or even you. Is He a God of transforming power or not? Will He move and act for your good and His glory or not? Will He do right by you?
According to God’s promises in the Bible, the answer to all of these questions is yes. But to claim these promises, you must first be a child of God. Once you entrust your very soul to Him, you must also learn to trust the details and circumstances of your life to Him. It should be easy, but often isn’t because it opposes our human nature.
In the book of Isaiah, the situation was abysmal. God’s wrath was falling on enemy nations like Egypt, but we see the flame of hope as Egypt’s eventual repentance, turning toward God, and salvation are prophesied. God will show mercy to them for their change of heart, bringing hope in the midst of pain. Change is possible with God. But do we believe it is true in our own lives?
Sometimes circumstances don’t change. Babylon never repented. The end of that path was total destruction. Circumstances never improved for that nation because their hearts never changed. At times, we may need to ask God to change us, and we will see the fog around us lift. Then we can continue walking in light even though our circumstances are exactly the same. God’s light of hope will guide us through the undesirable aspects of life toward the next leg of the journey. But this requires faith in the One who brings change.
- But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6
What does it mean to hope? Believe Him. Seek Him. Have faith in Him. Please Him. God rewards the faithful.
Hope Relies on God Not Man
What brings you worry, fear, panic? When these feelings come, who do you trust in? We often find ourselves scrambling for the answer, the next step, or a way to solve the problem ourselves. Perhaps we will start making phone calls to see who can offer a solution we haven’t thought of yet.
In Isaiah, we find Israel reacting in this very same way. They end up turning to Egypt to get them out of a bind. The problem is that their God was waiting for them to turn to Him, to put their full faith and trust in Him to lead them out of the dilemma. God knows that the help of man is insufficient. But do we?
Does it bring worry, fear, or panic to realize that your 401k, your bank account, your friend, your family, or whoever you’re trusting in apart from God, just isn’t enough? Man trusting in man, you trusting in yourself–it’s not enough. The schemes of men are not enough: we need God.
Hope Requires Humility
What does it mean to hope? Real hope isn’t prideful or secure in self-reliance. This qualifies as trusting in man and leads to false hope. However, when difficulties cultivate humility in you, you realize there is no sufficient help outside of God.
Pride is the enemy of real hope. It blinds you from the one solution that can break through the fog of doom settling around you. It can keep you from knowing Jesus Christ in the first place, barring you from your Savior. It can also push you toward the fallacy of self-reliance.
Perhaps you can relate to the situation in Isaiah. Maybe God has brought you to a place where the walls are falling down around you with no escape, but you still haven’t taken a step toward God, your Savior. In our culture, a popular response to this type of calamity is complete hopelessness that accepts impending destruction, saying, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” That is no answer or solution at all. It’s denial, an intentional decision to ignore problems. This wrong response can be eternally devastating.
Don’t pretend things are fine. Be real. Real hope desires change, believes it’s possible, and calls out in faith, humbly seeking God.
Real Hope Is Found In Jesus Christ
Real hope is found in God and His Son, Jesus Christ. There is no other escape. There is no plan B or backdoor out of life’s dark fog of difficulties and tragedies. Shoving your head in the sand, wishing (or partying) your problems away, doesn’t get you very far. False hope fades quickly. You may buy some time with entertainment and pleasures, but this soon unmasks counterfeit hope as an illusion you can’t ever fully grasp. We become further entangled in the depths of hopelessness.
Likewise, relying on ourselves and others leads to tremendous disappointment and further troubles, because humanity just isn’t enough. We search everywhere for hope, even browsing the internet for answers to what might offer a glimmer for a little while.
Instead, real hope is found in…
- Trusting your soul to Jesus Christ and receiving Him.
- Believing He will bring change to the darkest circumstances, even if it means changing you.
- Giving up reliance on anyone or anything other than God.
- Repenting (turning from sin toward God) in humility when you are wrong.
No one gives hope like the One whose very nature is love and goodness. For more detail and a deeper look at this topic, be sure to watch the sermon below.
Related article: Can You Trust in Jesus’ Name?
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