High Hopes
The following blog is a devotion from my book, Blind Faith Devotional: 30 Days of Finding Light, Building Faith, and Choosing Joy.
For more devotions, check it out here: https://amzn.to/3Q62J9h.
Day 21: High Hopes
“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.” 1 Peter 1:8
Hope is a word that is not lacking in most of our vocabularies, but how often do we slow down and really think about what it means? Here are a few common definitions: “A feeling of optimism, a strong sense of expectant desire for something to happen, or to look forward to a certain event with anticipation.” Often, what we are hoping for is an object, entity, or idea that cannot, at the moment, be seen or experienced.
When was the last time that you looked forward to something so much that you would say you desired it with anticipation or even optimistic expectation?
Well, I have no trouble thinking of times when I was truly hopeful. I love to travel, and a big part of the excitement that comes with voyaging to a new place is the planning process. Thinking about everywhere I want to visit, everything I want to experience, and even the foods I want to try can make me truly hopeful for a wonderful trip! For example, the first time I went to Ireland, I definitely anticipated all these things. I planned, researched different cities and towns, chose the best train routes, read several travel books, and scheduled the trip down to the last minute. I was hopeful that I would be able to immerse myself in the Irish culture and enjoy a fantastic experience as I traveled around the country.
Another example of a hopeful time in my life isn’t quite as fun--it is related to my sight loss.
Over the past five years, I have put a lot of trust in God to guide me through life with my disability. I have also put a lot of hope in the ability of doctors and medicine as I traveled the world with my family searching for a cure. We have been as far as Berlin, Germany, and Beijing, China on this quest. For each treatment, I desired to be healed and anticipated this result desperately, but it never came.
While I don’t believe that hoping for a positive outcome in any situation is ever a bad thing, we should realize that, when we put our hope in worldly things, there is a good chance of being disappointed. The anticipation and expectation of a trip fade away as soon as you arrive at your destination, and already you begin hoping for something else. Furthermore, when we put too much hope in the abilities of others around us, without putting God into the equation, the outcome is likely not to turn out as we expected.
In 1 Peter 1, we can read about a different kind of hope--one that is everlasting, eternal.
This hope promises so much more than this earth does. And that hope rests solely in our salvation: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4).
Do we focus on this promise with all of our hearts and desire it expectantly above anything in this world? Do we hope for it in the same way we may desire a good report from our doctor? Do we look forward to it with joy in the same way that we might get excited about an upcoming vacation?
Whenever I face a tough day or a trying situation, I love having something, usually a trip, to look forward to. It helps me to trudge through the small annoyances and larger trials that I face and keep moving towards that future reward. Other times when I am plagued by dark times, I simply want my problems to go away, and that is what I hoped for on all of those medical trips…for my blindness to vanish.
Rather than focusing on earthly pleasures or solutions to our problems, we can instead face these trials with hopeful joy.
How? By focusing on the fact that there is so much more in store for us because of our salvation, and, no matter what we face here on earth, we should be looking forward to that with joy: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials” (1 Peter 1:6).
Our ultimate trust, hope, and expectation should rest in the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, and in the fact that, because of this sacrifice, we can look forward to a glorious journey one day to our heavenly home. The things that we often hope for on this earth cannot even compare to this “trip”. As 1 Peter 1 reads, the things of this earth tend to fade, but the promise we have in Christ is forever: “Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.” (1 Peter 1:23)
Our hope in Christ is something that will never let us down; we can always find joy in this fact, no matter what we face here on earth.
Think About It: What am I desiring expectantly in my life today? How can I ensure that I put more of my hope into Christ than in the things of this world?
Pray About It: “Lord, thank you for all of your many, wondrous blessings. I pray that you will turn my attention away from this world and towards all that you have done for me. Help me to find joy in the promise I have through my salvation no matter what hard circumstance I may be facing or may endure in the future.”
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