Hope Defined

A few years ago, I awakened in the middle of the night to the Lord’s voice. He asked me to become His “Jar of Hope.” After hearing this, there was a bright burst of light in the corner of the room above my head. I thought the Lord’s use of the word “jar” was worth considering. Jars are containers and used to store things for later use. When the Lord asked this, I believe He was expressing a desire to fill me with hope to pour out onto others. Have you ever heard it said we can only give to others what we have? To give hope, you must be filled (like a jar) with it.

What is hope? I was given this definition by the Holy Spirit as I started to look it up. He defined hope as confident expectation. I later ran across the use of this exact phrase several times in the Bible. When I think of confident expectation, I imagine being in a waiting room, at the edge of your seat in anticipation. Confidently expecting. Knowing your name will be called. This is hope. In the article, 4 Characteristics of Hope, I discuss this in more detail.

Finding Hope

How do we find hope? I believe the Lord has given us the answer in Romans 15:13. The NLT version of this verse says:

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”  ‭‭

The Bible is telling us that God is the source of hope. That He is the Source of confident expectation. He is able to fill us (like a jar) with joy and peace as we trust Him in difficult times, then we overflow with hope as a result. Romans 15:13 lays out the development of hope like a process. The first thing we are encouraged to do when developing hope is to decide to trust God.

Trusting God

Psalms 9:10 says:

“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

I recently read something that said our faith and foundation rests on God’s character. That our trust in Him is due to our faith in His character. This is EXACTLY what Psalms 9:10 is saying and what knowing His name means. If we KNOW Him (knowing His character) then we trust Him because we know that He is faithful. If we trust Him, we can confidently say “I know You’re God and not man so You cannot lie. I believe You are GOOD. I know Your plans for me are GOOD. I know you’ll NEVER leave me NOR forsake me!” Knowing these things about Him (knowing His name) makes deciding to trust Him easier.

When I first wrote this, I was overwhelmed with God’s heart concerning our trust in Him. He doesn’t take our trust in Him lightly. My revelation of this felt as if it is personal and intimate to Him. It’s important to Him when you hand your cares and difficulties over in child-like faith. He understands it’s not always easy to do. So when you present it to Him, He sees it as a fragile gift. If you’ve been on the fence about releasing something God, in faith, whisper these words right now: “I’m deciding to trust You.”

Joy and Peace

Secondly, as a result of deciding to trust God, He fills you (like a jar), completely with joy and peace. You’re peace comes as a result of your decision to trust Him. We don’t realize how valuable joy & peace are. They are those things you often don’t miss until they are gone. That you don’t realize you had it until you don’t have it. And they are beautiful because they don’t require everything, or anything, to be going right before they come in the room.

Psalms 62:5 NLT says:

“Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him.”

When you have joy and peace, you can wait quietly. The question of when loses it’s importance. Have you ever cried out to the Lord asking when? I certainly have. But it’s often a focus on the Who and not the when that is most beneficial.

I few years ago, I was commuting home from work. I used to drive across, then down a mountain (this part of my trip usually took 30 mins). But that day, as I was worshiping and talking to the Lord (praying), what that normally took 30 minutes to complete felt like 5 minutes. I was amazed at how the time flew! There is something to be said for keeping our eyes focused on the Lord. Be filled completely with joy and peace and you will look up and have reached where you desired to be. When you’re in joy and peace, the when loses it’s importance.

Overflowing

So, you decide to trust God, He fills you with joy and peace, then you begin to overflow with confident expectation (hope) by the power of the Holy Spirit. While you are remaining in joy and peace, your hope (your confident expectation to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living) begins to overflow.

My favorite color is green. So I was excited when I saw the Message version of Romans 15:13 calls hope green.

“Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!”

Green is symbolic of life. So it is saying that hope is life; That the Holy Spirit can cause life to overflow out of you and onto seemingly dead and impossible situations. I know it can be scary to hope again when encountering disappointment after disappointment. I have been there. But it is okay​ to hope again. You need to. Hope brings life back into situations. It’s that burst of light.

 

Be on the edge of your seat in anticipation! Listen for your name to be called next! It all begins with one decision (the only step we’re responsible for), the decision to trust the One in charge.