For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hope is a mysterious power. I get it that this section of verses is about unity, bearing with one another and acting in love. But then we come to that word. Hope.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life” (Prov 13:12).
Hope is a struggle, especially when hopes have been dashed over and over and over and over again. It becomes a word to run from. And yet…we all have a sense of hope that is undaunted.
A person who experiences a nasty marriage and divorce marries again, hoping that things will be different. Sometimes they are. Sometimes they are not.
A person who tries and fails at their dream opportunities often will try again. Sometimes there is success and sometimes not.
An infertile couple will try all sorts of means of getting pregnant, having hope just one more time and one more thing.
Hope is fragile. But it is so relentless as well.
God says he is the God of hope. And the God of endurance.
But where is our hope rooted? Is it in the things we hope for?
According to this verse, hope is rooted in Scripture.
“the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope”
What is the encouragement of Scriptures? Really quite endless. But mainly that no matter the problems of this life, we have hope in the next life. And hope that he is with us in this one.
Although to be fair, sticking with the context, here it is about God’s prophetic words will be fulfilled, God comes as a servant to his people in God’s truth, and that unity is always at the heart of God.
Part of our aversion to hope sometimes is that we place our hope in the fulfillment of our specific desires. We want the miracle of healing to take place, the joy of belonging to someone, the hope of having children or something else. All very real and very close to the heart. And when we don’t see the hope fulfilled, it becomes devastating.
But is our hope being rightly placed?
If this is our only hope, the specifics of our desires, then dashed hopes will lead to a crushed heart. Sadness. Depression. Or worse.
But a hope that is rooted in the Scriptures, that sees an eternal perspective within our own desires, has staying power. It gives perspective even when we do not see our hearts desires fulfilled.
Our hope in the things of this world is only temporary.
Our perspective is limited.
But there is an eternal hope that gives us strength to endure the heartaches of today. It’s a more gritty kind of hope. One that knows the story is not over. It’s actually just beginning.
Lord, help us to have and find and be rooted in the hope that is from your Word.