Day Four: Give Hope

Give … hope

He puts poor people on their feet again; he rekindles burned-out lives with fresh hope, Restoring dignity and respect to their lives-- a place in the sun!

1Sa 2:8

In order to give hope, we need to understand hope. In the Bible, it can mean not only a refuge or a confidence, but an attached cord of expectancy. This meaning, above all the others, shows the inner necessity of holy hope.

Before sin entered the world, the hope of the human race was “attached” to the Creator – hope for sustenance, hope for completion, hope for eternity. After sin, the cord of our hope shifted. No longer in a state of innocent communion with God, we began to place our hope in ourselves, in relationships, in “fate.”

What kind of hope will you pass on? A worldly hope that the universe will somehow smile on you? Or will it be a hope attached to the very One who has the power, mercy, and grace to work all things for good? It is only this kind of hope that is life-changing and limitless.

Father-God, I place my hope in You, in your Word, and in the purity and truth of your character. Help me to birth holy hope in others.