Hope is More than Positive Thinking

February 9, 2024

Life isn’t always smooth sailing. We all go through difficult seasons in life. Seasons of loss. Seasons of grief. Seasons of struggle.

Sometimes we will hear people say, “Well, you just gotta have hope and give it to God!” And, yes, give it to God. But, sometimes responding to someone's pain in that way can do more harm than good. Sometimes the best thing to do is listen and say, “I’m sorry.”

It’s okay not to be okay sometimes. Some things in life aren’t okay. Abuse. Death. Sickness. These things aren’t okay. That's why our hope isn't grounded in our circumstances here on Earth.

Hope isn’t just “positive thinking” or “optimism.” Hope doesn’t overlook the facts that something is wrong or that something hurts.

Hope isn’t the same as optimism. It's not the belief that something bad will always turn out well. Our hope, as Christians, can’t be in that God will fix every situation the way we “see fit” during our lifetime. Our hope has to be in God, and God alone.

Here’s what hope is: Hope is the absolute confidence that every part of your life ultimately makes sense regardless of how it turns out this side of eternity.

From our vantage point, life looks like a mess at times. But God’s view from Heaven isn’t the same as ours.

You can’t even imagine the good that God has in store for your future. In Jeremiah 29:11b God says, “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future” (NCV).

Hope means, in the end, I know God is in control and he will make everything okay, even if it’s not okay here and now. God promises us that he will do that. He always keeps his promises. 

“'He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.'" (Revelation 21:4, CSB)

One day there will be no more sickness. There will be no more evil and abuse. One day there will be no more funerals. There will be no more death.

That’s something to look forward to. 

Your future is in God’s hands — and there’s no better place for it to be.