“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”
Isaiah 40:31
The first part of this verse in the Aramaic Bible reads, “And those who hope in LORD JEHOVAH shall renew their power”. Hope is about waiting.
In the Literal Standard Version, we read, “But those expecting YHWH”. Hope is about expecting Yahweh. It is a place of confident expectation. This is not a passive waiting but rather an active pursuit of the God of hope.
In Ephesians 1:17-18, Paul’s prayer focuses on spiritual understanding, wisdom and revelation to know God more. Our pursuit of Him is intricately linked to our comprehension of the hope to which we are called and the richness of the inheritance for those of us who believe.
When the essence and substance of our realities is illuminated by Holy Spirit, so we can recognize and treasure the assured promise of His calling, we can then know that there is hope for the future.
In the midst of what we are seeing in the world – wars, rising of antisemitism, hate, division, depression among our young people, increased financial stresses, it’s easy to dwell in the negative. But we serve a God who is sovereign. He doesn’t sweat the adverse and gloomy events we may see around us. Our God is able to do more than we can ask or even imagine. In fact, in Jeremiah 29:11, He says He has plans for us and that those plans are not for our harm but rather for us to prosper.
“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
When our hope is in Jesus, we can be confident that we have hope and a future.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13
He is the God of hope. Therefore, true hope can only come from Him. For instance, if we are having financial difficulties, hope in more income is not true hope. No matter what circumstances life may bring to us, true hope only comes from the God of hope. When we trust in Him, He will fill us with joy and peace and not only will we have hope, according to the above passage, we will overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Hope will spill out of us affecting those around us.
As Chris said in the video, there are 300 Messianic prophecies. That’s a lot of hope. When praying for Israel and Gaza, let us pray that they would receive revelation of the hope of Jesus as Messiah. In fact, we can also pray this for our families and our communities in Canada. People with no hope essentially have no joy. When they perceive no future to look forward to, it becomes a challenge to grasp joy. They need a supernatural revelation that God answers prayers and that He has plans to give them hope and a future.
This Christmas season, let us bring the message of hope through our relationships with those who don’t yet know Him. I pray that you will have opportunity for meaningful conversations and that you will seize every chance to be kind, loving and compassionate. Let’s bring hope to a world that really doesn’t know where to find real hope.