“Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.”
Psalm 25:4-5 NLT
A humble prayer from David, as he asks God to teach him, to lead him, and save him. He then finishes verse 5 with the statement “All day long I put my hope in you”. There is no better focus for our God, as I’m sure we agree, but human beings are notorious for hoping and trusting in other things and in other ways. But that hasn’t changed since the days of Adam. Psalm 20:7, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God”. “Hope” and “trust” go hand in hand in life. We hope in God for our future, and we trust Him to lead us in His ways.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, we must think about how worldly people understand hope. They use it in contexts such as, “I hope I don’t get Covid”, or “I hope it doesn’t rain on my birthday”. There is an element of doubt in such a definition of hope. A response to the question, “will you go to Heaven when you die” is “I hope so”, again demonstrating that they have doubts, though not strong enough to make them do anything about it.
The whole concept of “hope” comes about because we cannot see what will happen in the future. That introduces another word – “faith”. Hebrew’s 11:1, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”. What do we pilgrims hope for? There will be many things, depending on our stages in life. We hope for the right job, house, partner, and so on. But one thing we all will agree on is our hope in God for our eternal home. And we can see the extraordinary experiences believers have gone through because within them was the hope of a better life ahead. Biblical hope is different from the hope that the world understands. Biblical hope carries with it a surety that what is hoped for, aligned as it is to God’s Word, is definitely going to happen. We might not see it taking place, but we have faith that whatever it is will come about. Jeremiah wrote, “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). That’s a great promise of God, and one we must believe for our lives and those of our loved ones.
We pilgrims have a firm and unshakeable hope in the future, and we share it with those around us. 1 Peter 3:15, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”. Do we have our answers ready? Are we a people who are living out God’s truth in our lives, so that others can see it? Are we beacons set on a hill, for all to be illuminated by, standing out from the crowd around us? On Easter Sunday this year I met a dog walker and the conversation came around to what she referred to as the terrible state of the world. She was scared about the wars and threats of war. Of the politicians and their messages of gloom. a poor woman with nowhere to turn to where she could find hope for her future and her family’s. But I shared about Jesus and his resurrection, that through Him we have hope for the future. She admitted that she was an atheist and hurried off, but hopefully I was able to plant a seed of hope. The Holy Spirit I’m sure will water and nurture the good seed of the Gospel planted in that lady’s life that day.
We pilgrims really need to understand the meaning of God’s “hope” and apply it to our lives. We mustn’t be like the house wife in Wales who prayed, when she went to bed, that the coal slag heap behind her house would be cast into the sea, hoping that God would answer her prayer with a much better view when she woke up. On opening her curtains the next morning, the slag heap was still there, her hopes dashed. Her comment was that she knew that her prayer wouldn’t work anyway. When we hope for something we must have faith that the God of hope will answer our prayer.
Paul wrote, “ … We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)” (Romans 8:23b-25). We hope and we wait in faith for our hope to be realised.
Father God, in difficult times it is easy to lose hope and faith in You. Father, we admit that we have lost sight of You. In this prayer for hope, Lord, we ask that Your Holy Spirit reignites within us the hope and faith in You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 