Hold On To Your Hope!

“Americans Losing Hope in the American Dream” screams the headline from a recent poll.

The article from NewsMax said, “Americans are pessimistic about their chances of achieving and sustaining the American dream.” According to the Marist-McClatchy Poll 80% of Americans think it’s harder now than in previous generations to get ahead.”

“They see an economic system in which they have to work harder than ever to get ahead, and a political system that’s unresponsive to their needs. They see the wealthy allowed to play by a different set of rules from everyone else,” wrote David Lightman, a member of McClatchy’s Washington bureau.

Whether you agree with the poll or not, it is apparent that we are living in an era where many have lost hope. Not just economially. But in our political leaders. And in our courts. A recent Rasmussen Poll found that 67% of voters believe that “America is heading down the wrong track.”

While many pundits spout dire predictions for our future, others suggest that there are some encouraging signs that provide hope. I don’t know. But here’s what I do know.

My hope does not rest in my country. Capitalism. Or conservatism.

I have, as the Bible expresses it “a good hope, “a better hope,” a blessed hope,” and a “living hope.”

How can this be? And why is it so?

(1) God is the Author of My Hope.

He is called “the God of hope” (Rom 15:13). The Psalmist asks, “Are you disquieted?” Then he answers “hope in God!” (Ps.42:5). In the darkness of times, when everything looked hopeless, the God of hope came to the rescue! Ask Abraham. Ask the wanderers in the wilderness. Ask Joseph. Daniel. And Jonah. Ask the discouraged disciples after Jesus’ death.

I am never hopeless when I have faith in God.

(2) Jesus Christ is the Anchor of My Hope.

To a dispersed people who the apostle Peter called “pilgrims” and “strangers” he offered hope. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

The Christian’s hope is alive. It’s anchored in Jesus’ resurrection. In his victory of sin. Death. And the Devil. Hope in Jesus is “the anchor of the soul.” It’s sure. Secure. And steadfast.

Jesus is my mediator. My High Priest. My Advocate. My Redeemer. In Him I have access to the Father. Through Him I enjoy the gift of the Holy Spirit. Because of him I have hope!

(3) Heaven is the Aim of My Hope.

The apostle Paul wrote that we are justified by God’s grace so that we “might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7).

Peter promised that our hope is “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (I Pet 1:4).

As the song writer Albert Brumley wrote,

This world is not my home I’m just passing through
my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
the angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door
and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore!

As our spiritual faith grows deeper and our divine love grows sweeter, then our heavenly hope grows greater! Regardless of the problems we face in this country, or any other, there is a better hope awaiting the faithful.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering” (Heb 10:23).

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman