(Romans 8:24&25) For in this hope we were saved.  But hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait patiently.

 (Hebrews 11:1) Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

(Romans 4:18) Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

If you say, “I hope it rains tomorrow.”  What are the chances that what you hope for will happen? Now, if the weather man says it’s going to rain tomorrow, and the radar map show a giant storm coming, you have a fair chance it will rain tomorrow.  You have put your hope in the weather man and what you have seen.  But, if the weather man says there is no rain possible for the next 7 days, and he shows you the radar map and there is not a cloud showing for at least a thousand miles.  Your hope is not likely to come about.  However, the weather man is not always right, and neither are we.  We need to hope in a higher power.

Hope, “to desire with expectation of fulfillment” (from Webster’s dictionary).  Our expectation of what we hope for is only as strong as our faith in the power behind our hopes.  Christians put there hope in God.  When we hope in God, we hope in he who is very patient.  As in the case of Abraham and Sarah, they waited well past their childbearing years for the son that had been promised to them. They waited in faith.  They hoped in God’s ability to do what he promised.  In faith, they believed God, and the promised son was born.

Faith provides confidence in what we hope for.  Faith is built when we seek God and find him.  That allows us to be confident in hoping for his promises. We can be confident that Jesus will return and make all things right. Two thousand years ago, he promised he would return.  In faith, we are patiently waiting. Our hope is therefore the assurance we have until we see him coming in the clouds.  Then we will no longer need hope, for what we have hoped for will have been revealed.  It is wise to hope in God.