The Good News of Hope
THE GOOD NEWS OF HOPE
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
Most of us are acquainted with, in one way or another, that person who always has a smile on their face, who laughs a lot, who sees a bright side to most everything, and who seems to have optimism about the future even in the midst of difficult times. They are fun to be around, they encourage us, they make us forget for a moment our trials and worries, and they really seem to know God personally, enjoy life and love and enjoy the people around them. What is the source of their energy? What makes them tick? Do they have something special inside them or are they just overly optimistic fools with their head in the sand, oblivious to the dangers, heartaches, disappointments, and pain of life?
None of us are immune to or exempt from trials and tribulations. Ours are different from the next guy, but we all have them. Financial problems, marriage problems, health problems, children problems, other relationship problems. What about the kids with no parent who cares, living on the street, no education or support or direction. Or the homeless veteran, abandoned, forgotten, discarded, without family or friends. And all of us live life with wishes and dreams. We wish we had a great marriage, a good job, more money, love, happiness. We wish we could get well, feel better, look better, had a true friend…and the list goes on. We dream of those things, we wish for those things, we even pray for those things. But when we look at life around us and peer into what seems to be the inevitable future, we come to the logical conclusion that it’s not going to happen for us. As far as we can see down the tunnel, there is no light there. There is no hope.
As Christians we know that Jesus promised to give us a joyful, fruitful, fulfilling life but we look around the church and see a lot of the same stress and worry and anxiety and depression that we see outside the church. Where is Hope and why is there so much hopelessness? Hope is an interesting thing and, unfortunately, a pretty rare commodity these days. In Hebrews 11:1, God tells us that faith is the substance, or the source, of hope and that faith is the evidence of things we cannot see. So, God says faith is the one essential ingredient for hope. Without true, life changing faith, there can be no real hope… in any of us. Maybe dreams or wishes, but no hope. Where does this kind of faith come from? Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. God speaks His Word to our heart, we hear it and believe it, really believe it, and that God breathed Word supernaturally produces faith inside us which in turn ignites hope for today and tomorrow and all eternity. That kind of faith, is the only birth place of real hope. That kind of faith knows absolutely that the God who controls the present and the future is my savior, my friend, and He has my future planned in His heart. When I can’t see down that tunnel, and fear tries to set in, this unwavering faith allows me to smile, even with a bit of excitement, on what will be in store for me down the road. It was that faith in the hearts of the three Hebrew children in the third chapter of Daniel that gave them hope that there was a God planned future on the other side of the fiery furnace they were about to enter. It was the faith that Paul had while in prison in Rome, shortly before being martyred, when he said, “I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced He is able to keep those things I have entrusted to Him until that day.” 2 Timothy 1:12. Paul knew his eternity was safely entrusted in God’s hand and no man could alter that plan.
When a kid living on the street, or a young dad with terminal cancer, or a single mom without a job, or any of us battling hardships really understand and believe, deep down in our heart, that Jesus, the creator of the universe, knows us, loves us and forgives us and that He promises to guide our steps and direct our paths, and that His plan for us is an eternal plan for a future, not calamity, and that we are just as important to God as anybody else on the planet… genuine hope will come alive and blossom in us like it did in the heart of the apostle Paul and the Hebrew children. The devil works very hard to daily whisper in our ears that we are a failure, we will never amount to anything, there is no opportunity out there for us, we won’t get well, we won’t succeed, and the only chance we have is to lie, cheat, steal, and manipulate our way ahead. But when true hope is birthed and nurtured, all of a sudden my time on this earth matters, whether it is one more day or 80 years. I know God has a good plan and I know He can make a way where there seems to be no way. Nothing is impossible for Him. A kid’s behavior suddenly matters to him, his school work matters to him, his relationships matter to him, his family matters to him, his future matters to him. The young dad can deal with death and eternity with joy in his heart and peace on his feet, knowing that if healing does not come that God’s eternal plan for him is wonderful and God himself will take care of those left behind. The single mom can rest assured that God is at work and He will never leave her or forsake her and will cause miracles to happen to make sure she is protected and provided for.
Please listen carefully. If hope comes only from a supernatural faith, and that supernatural faith comes only from hearing and believing the Word of God, where do you think the devil is going to spend his time? The same place he spent his time in the garden of eden when he asked Adam and Eve, “Did God really say you shouldn’t eat the fruit of that tree?”. He is going to spend his time attacking, mocking, watering down, and keeping us away from the Word of God because it is the anointed Word sown in us that produces faith and causes that faith to grow and mature. He will try to convince us that God doesn’t really mean what He says in scripture, that the Bible is really just an old book written by a bunch of ancient guys, or maybe that the Bible was written for that time in history but isn’t applicable for us today. We are too smart and enlightened today to need any wisdom or instruction or insight from the creator of the universe, right?
Jesus made this very clear in Mark the fourth chapter when He told the parable about the sower and the seed. First, He told the parable and said that a planter sowed seed and it fell in four places. Some on the hard road and the birds ate it, some on stony ground with no dirt so it couldn’t grow its roots deep and even though it sprang up initially, the hot sun scorched it, some in the thorns where the thorns choked it, and finally some on good ground where it flourished and produced fruit. Then, He explained the parable for all of those listening that didn’t have spiritual ears to understand. He said, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” In other words, you must understand this eternal principle, or you will not understand anything Jesus wants to tell you. He continued, “The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.” Their hearts are hard like the road. These folks don’t want to hear, don’t want to change, don’t want to receive. In a blink of an eye, this word is stolen and gone. Then Jesus explained the second group. He said, “Others, like the seed sown on stony ground, hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; but they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterwards, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately fall away.” These folks like to talk about God’s Word, sing about God’s word, and say they believe God’s Word but when the going gets tough, when they can’t walk by sight but have to walk by faith, hunker down and hold on tight to the promises of God, control their tongue, forgive, love and persevere, they shrink back. They have no root, no depth to their faith. And then the third group. “Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” These people have their hearts in the world and let money, position, worldly success, influence, power, lusts, and all the other lures of the flesh pull them to and fro. They are never really happy, never satisfied, never fulfilled, and always striving. And lastly there are the true disciples. “But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit; some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” Here are the faithful. They believe God’s Word and His promises regardless of what they see or hear around them, they persevere in hard times, they keep forgiving, they keep loving, they focus on other people because they know God’s plan is for a future and a hope. They know He will never leave them, always take care of them, guide their steps and direct their paths.
So, when you hear or read God’s Word and a voice comes in your head saying God really didn’t mean that and you agree, then you are like the roadway. Satan has stolen that seed and it will produce nothing. What about a believing wife of a non Christian husband going to a bible study on marriage, reading and studying what God says about marriage, forgiving and accepting and submitting and encouraging, and things seem to be going great but then he acts like a jerk, or makes another stupid financial decision, or gets drunk with the boys. Will she forgive and love and let her Godly virtue, in due season, bring her husband to the Lord? Or will she hit the roof, bring up all his prior failures, tell him he is no good, and go to mama’s house. Look, living God’s Word is not easy. It is not fair. Sometimes it is really hard. But if she shrinks back, that is the word that fell on the stony ground. It grew a little bit, maybe produced some leaves, but it had no root. You weren’t really sold out to God’s word and His promises. Not all in. Not willing to persevere when the sun got hot. And then the third group are the church goers that go thru all the motions, say all the right things, probably work on all the committees, hear and read God’s Word but their hearts are preoccupied with the worries of the world, and the desires for other things. That is the seed sown among the thorns. Probably some good deeds were done but no crop of spiritual fruit was produced like the supernatural faith, hope, and love that grows from the Word sown in the fertile soil. It is sad but none of these first three groups of “believers” were willing to step over the line and tell God that I am sold out and all in. You are my everything. Like the man finding the treasure in the field and, with joy, selling all that he has to buy that field so he can possess the treasure in Matthew 13:44. That treasure is an overcoming, life changing, “walk through the furnace” Faith, that will light the fire of excitement and hope for a purposeful, fulfilling tomorrow and an indescribable, unimaginable eternity.