PATIENT HOPE

Romans 8:24-25 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Hope is defined as a feeling that what is desired will take place; it is having trust and reliance that something will occur; it is desire for a thing that is accompanied by anticipation and expectation. In this chapter of the Roman letter, Paul goes into great detail establishing the fact that Christians are God's children; that He has prepared a place in heaven for their eternal rest; and that, as repentant sinners, they have been reconciled to Himself through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross of Calvary; that Jesus was resurrected from death, and ascended into heaven. Paul also writes that, as God's obedient children, we are His heirs, and joint-heirs with Christ, and, having the inheritance of salvation, will join Him in heaven. In this we find the hope of every Christian. Not only is eternal salvation desired, but also each child of God has the assurance that it will happen; fully trusting and relying on the fact that it will occur, and is anticipated and expected by all Christians. What a wonderful hope we have in God, our Creator, through His Son, Jesus Christ!

The prophet, Jeremiah wrote, Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is (Jer. 17:7). Indeed, blessed are all Christians having this hope in God's promises. In Romans 15:13, Paul tells us that this hope comes from God through the power of the Holy Ghost. It was the word of God that was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and in it, God tells us of this hope. Paul affirms this in his letter to the church at Rome. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope (Rom. 15:4). This hope is the earnest expectation of an event that will manifest itself in the future (Rom. 8:19). The lesson text tells us that our hope is placed in a future event, which, at the present time, cannot be seen. If seen, then it would have already occurred, leaving nothing for which to hope.

Hope requires patience. Without knowledge of when that which is hoped for will occur, one must, with patience wait for it. In the Hebrew letter we find this assurance that patience is necessary. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise (Heb. 10:36). Nothing can be done to speed up an event that will, without doubt, occur, but at an unknown time in the future. One must trust, or have faith that it will occur, or there is no hope. The Hebrew writer reinforces this by saying, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1). Faith and hope are intertwined. One reinforces the other. Without both, each is individually lost. Regarding the need for both, faith and hope, the author of the Book of Lamentations, thought to be Jeremiah, wrote this, The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord (Lam. 3:25-26).

The Hebrew writer also refers to Christians as the heirs of promise ...of the hope set before us, that is, eternal salvation in heaven. It is this hope that serves the Christian as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast (See Heb. 7:11-13). Serious thoughts of eternity, without the hope of salvation, leads to anxiousness, impatience, and despair. With an earnest and patient expectation, the hope of eternal salvation allows Christians to bear all trials and tribulations one faces in life here on earth. Both patience and hope are Christian virtues that allow one to successfully cope with the tribulations of life (See Rom. 5:3-5).

The greatest example of enduring life and all of its trials and tribulations, is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His short life on earth was filled with the persecution of His own heritage, which culminated in the despising ...shame of death on the cross of Calvary. With that example before us, we are told to lay aside every weight, and the sin, which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us (See Heb. 12:1-2). The apostle Paul gives us a very fitting summary of patient hope in his letter to Titus. He wrote, For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11-13). With godly patience, Christians are admonished to wait for the fulfillment of God's promise through His Son, Jesus Christ, which is the hope of eternal salvation!