II Thessalonians 2:16
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,”
God’s love for us is great. We will never fathom it’s depths. Ever since the fall of Adam, He has sought to redeem us. All of human history points to the cross; it looked toward it and we look back at it. God gave His Son for our rescue. He continues to demonstrate that love by giving us good hope.
Godly hope is different from worldly hope. It’s a sense within that knows something will happen. Much like a child knows a parent will deliver on a promise, so this hope is the confident knowing that something will happen. Worldly hope is more of a wish; “I hope it doesn’t rain today.”
Godly hope gets us through dark or mundane times. This hope grows as we experience His deliverances and comfort. In time we KNOW He will bring us through.
This hope gives us patience. Instead of desperately wanting out now, we learn to trust Him in the process. James 1:4 says, “And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Our desperate attempts can short circuit this process. His promises give us hope that He is in control and will somehow work this out for good. He wants to be restful and trusting through it all.
Ephesians 2:10 is one of the great promises that provides that hope. It says that we are His workmanship. He created us and if we yield to Him, He continues to shape us. I admire many products, as their quality control is outstanding. How much more is the quality of God’s work in us? This should give us hope. The mundane times or the circumstances of high pressure aren’t in vain. He wants us to call on Him for assistance. Having done so, we need not be anxious that things are out of control. We can have hope that He will work it out.
Lord, thank You for this hope. Thank You for the eternal hope in heaven, but also for the daily hope that gets us through all times.