I recently had a counselee ask me a very good question: \u201cI know that I need to trust in God, but I don\u2019t really understand what it means to hope in Him.\u201d I had to think for a moment before answering that one \u2013 did I understand it myself? These questions are always great opportunities for me to grow as a follower of Christ and as a counselor. They stretch me and keep me on my toes and in the Word for my answers. And His Word doesn\u2019t disappoint!<\/p>\n
Obviously, our program is all about hope. Ladies come to us broken and hurting, many of them having tried many options for help to no avail, and they are hopeless. We know that the Bible offers great hope for them through Christ, and we want to give them a clear vision to see and cling to that hope. Romans 15:13 states, \u201cMay the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.\u201d <\/strong>Clearly, our God is a God of hope, and He wants us to experience the fullness of hope in in Him.<\/p>\n Hope, of course, is the topic we will be studying in the next few blog posts. We pray that you will be encouraged and renewed in hope as you follow along and learn with us. We\u2019ll mostly focus on a wonderful passage from Romans that highlights hope well: Romans 8:18, 22-25:<\/p>\n For I consider that the sufferings of this present time\u00a0are not worthy to be compared with the\u00a0glory that is to be revealed to us. For we know that the whole creation\u00a0groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.\u00a0And not only this, but also we ourselves, having\u00a0the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,\u00a0waiting eagerly for\u00a0our\u00a0adoption as sons,\u00a0the redemption of our body.\u00a0For\u00a0in hope we have been saved, but\u00a0hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he\u00a0already\u00a0sees?\u00a0But\u00a0if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Paul, the writer of Romans, begins this little passage by talking about suffering. There are many trials we face in this life \u2013 abuse, illness, loss of a loved one or child, financial and marital difficulties, homelessness, despair, the list could go on. What Paul says here is not that our suffering means nothing and should just be brushed off as no big deal, but rather that when we truly understand the glory and everlasting satisfaction and joy that is coming in the future for believers \u2013 when we really get that \u2013 then our sufferings here on earth become much easier to bear. Our difficulties here on earth only make us yearn even more for heaven and eternity with our Savior when we truly understand and believe<\/em> that eternity with Him outshines anything we can imagine.<\/p>\n Hope and belief are closely linked. We have to believe that something is true before we can eagerly hope that it will happen. And biblical hope is not some passive \u201cwell, I hope this happens, but we\u2019ll see\u201d kind of thing. It is believing that what the Bible says is true, and choosing to find joy in eager expectation, waiting for that outcome. This means that we have to be very cautious that we are interpreting the promises of the Word of God accurately and not having unbiblical expectations of a life of ease and prosperity here on this earth. The hope is yet to come, and if we choose to believe<\/em> what the Bible teaches about eternity with the Lord, then we can begin to experience the hope<\/em> that God desires for us.<\/p>\n Keep checking in, as we will continue to dig in to this great passage!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"