by Michael Ficher
Hope is something you feel, not something you think.
Believe it or not, nearly 50% of college students across 133 college campuses self-reported symptoms of depression in a 2022 survey.¹ The number is skyrocketing.
Another study found that hopelessness is the highest it’s been in a decade with around 40% of high school students “feeling sad or hopeless for at least two weeks.”² There’s no getting around it — people need hope. And they need it ASAP.
If you’re looking for hope, the answer isn’t to simply “square your shoulders” or “face the future with more courage.”
If you or someone you know is struggling to feel optimistic about the future, the answer is not just to think differently. They need to feel a different feeling.
Of course, that’s not to say our thoughts don’t matter — they absolutely do. It’s nothing new that our thoughts can affect our emotions. But what we should understand is that a more hopeful thought-pattern is incomplete if it doesn’t lead to a better feel-pattern.
The Bible helps us understand hope and how to obtain it — but it also talks about hope in a very different way than the world does.
What is Hope in the Bible?
When people use the word “hope,” they normally mean a wish, a desire, or something they’d like to have happen. It carries a degree of uncertainty and might not come to pass.
In the Bible, “hope” has a completely different meaning — it’s the assurance of good things to come:
In hope of eternal life which God, who never lies, promised ages ago. (Titus 1.2)
In worldly terms, someone can have hopes that are dashed and left unfulfilled. But for Christians, hope is more certain. When our hopes are firmly planted in God, our hope is immovable.
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. (Hebrews 6.19)
This kind of hope is more powerful than worldly hope. This kind of hope doesn’t just bring the possibility of a brighter future, but the guarantee of a brighter future.
This kind of hope can actually help calm our anxieties and our worries. It can change us, and help us rise up to who God wants us to be. When we have this kind of hope, Satan’s power over us diminishes, and we step into the light of God. We are given confidence. We have greater ability to follow God and feel His love.
This kind of hope is a gift from God, and it is there for all true followers of Christ.
How Hope Helps Us Trust God in Hard Times
Let’s be honest though — it’s a lot easier said than done. Life is hard sometimes (or maybe all the time). Doubts step into our path, storm clouds block our vision, and hope seems to fade away.
Sometimes it’s deep despair and depression; sometimes it’s just a bad day with no light at the end of the tunnel.
Other times, it’s somewhere in between the two.
How can we have hope through times such as these? When the hopeful light of God doesn’t seem to shine, what can we do? Where can we turn?
What the Bible Says About Hope
In Genesis 15, God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. This blessing seemed impossible — Sarah was well beyond child-bearing age. Yet through God’s miraculous power, she got pregnant and Isaac was born.
Think how happy and hopeful Abraham must have felt! God had followed through on his promise…
…which must have made it a million times harder when God asked Abraham to give Isaac back. Only a few chapters later (Genesis 22), God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.
How will Abraham’s posterity be numerous as the stars if Isaac has to die?
But rather than fighting God, Abraham put his full trust and hope in Him. Abraham had that assurance — that hope — that God’s promises could still be fulfilled.
At the last minute, God sent an angel who saves Isaac, and God provides a ram as a substitute. Despite how dire it looked, God’s promises came through. They came through for Abraham!
And they’ll come through for you too.
If God can miraculously save Isaac and keep His promise to Abraham, He can work miracles in your life too. We can have that assurance, that hope, that forms an anchor to the soul. The hope the world provides will never be an adequate substitute for the unending, unchanging hope God offers.
Bible Verses/Quotes About Hope
Don’t just take Abraham’s word for it — the Bible has a lot to say about hope. Here are four key scriptures that can get you through tough times. Consider marking these verses in your own scriptures and studying them.
2 Corinthians 4.16-18 — Have Hope in Things You Can’t See
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day.
For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
Because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
If you just finished reading it, read it a second time. (This is a scripture you have to think about to unpack all its meaning.)
Hope often involves a trust in the unseen world. That might seem scary, but this scripture also reveals the justification for hoping in things we can’t see:
The things of the unseen world are eternal.
If you want to be bound to this world and the patterns that exist here, go ahead. Put your trust and hope in things you can see — things that are temporal.
But if you want to follow the ways of God’s world and be sealed up in God’s kingdom, follow the power that exists in believing in things you can’t see. And know that God is working in the background for you.
Have hope in the things you can’t see, because the things you can’t see are more powerful than the things you can see.
Psalm 42.1 — How to Feel Hope Again
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.
For some reason or another, sometimes we find that insecurities have wriggled their way into our lives.
We can remember a time when God was our rock — when hope was an anchor to our soul. We can remember the sweet feeling that Hope brought, and we long to feel it again.
But now it feels fleeting. Can we ever feel that way again?
The Bible gives a resounding “Yes!” When we are cast down, we can praise Him again. When our soul is filled with anxiety, we can pray to Him, for He is our help and our God.
Don’t give into the lie that if you no longer feel hopeful, then your new condition is permanent. Instead, believe the truth that God is a god of restoration. He can restore the hope you once felt — you just need to let Him in.
Isaiah 40.31 — Why You Should Work to Obtain Hope
But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
You might do a double take after reading this one; the word “hope” doesn’t even show up. What does Isaiah 40.31 have to do with hope?
The key truth in this scripture is not the what of hope, but the who and the why.
Those who put their trust in God receive great strength and power. Because God’s promises are sure, we know that this promise from the Lord is one he’ll keep. And if we have that assurance, then we, by definition, have hope.
Those who have their hope in God will run and not be weary. They will soar with wings like eagles. They will have their needs taken care of. They will have no need to fear.
Romans 8.24-25 — Waiting on the Lord
We saved this one for last, because it embodies how so many Christians feel about hope.
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Sometimes having hope means just waiting. And waiting. Then waiting some more.
In fact, that’s hope a lot of the time.
But our wait is not in vain. There is a God, and he will come through. He’s done it before, and he’ll do it again.
So if you feel like you’ve been waiting a long time and you’re starting to lose hope, remember this —
You’re not alone.
You’re not alone in your struggle. You’re not alone in your wait. You’re not alone when you continue to look to the heavens for hope and for answers.
In fact, you’re standing side-by-side with some of the best people that ever walked this earth.
The Bible is full of people who placed their hope in God. Righteous people, who knew God was real and had faith in Him. People who lived their lives the way God wanted them to. All these people had great hope in God.
And the result? Most of them had to wait a long time, just like me and you. But God always came through for them. And he’ll come through for you and I too.
If you’re struggling to feel hope, don’t give up. Look to the heavens in prayer, because there’s a loving God who wants to hear from you. Because of Him, you can know that brighter days are ahead. You can know that great and marvelous blessings await you.
If you’re struggling to feel hope, remember this:
Because of Him, this life is not the end: only the beginning of something greater and happier than we can possibly imagine.
Author:
Michael Fisher
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