“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
We can live for weeks without food, days without water, and minutes without air. But we simply cannot live one moment without hope. We are hope-shaped creatures. God created us in His image and gave us the capacity to hope and dream, and this is what pulls us into the future. Every person who has ever lived has given their life over to some kind of hopeful expectation. Now, what looks like hope for one person will not look like hope to another, but make no mistake, we are hardwired for hope, and it is hope that keeps us going.
There are, of course, two directions in which to direct our hope. We can place our hope in the horizontal – that is, in the stuff of this life; or we can place our hope in the vertical – in our Savior. Where we place our hope will determine how we live our lives. When we place our hope in the horizontal, we are inevitably left wanting, wearied, and weakened. Nothing in this life is able to give us the deep, lasting satisfaction of the heart. There is simply too much brokenness in the world and in ourselves for this to work.
But when we place our hope in the vertical, we live out this biblical truth:
Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s has poured his love out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:5)
When we hope in our Savior, we have a hope that nothing in this life can affect. Even when current circumstances argue against all hope, we can still have hope, because our Savior is alive and well sitting on His throne in glory, and He lives to intercede for us (Hebrews 7:25).
If your hope that leaves you restless, disappointed, or even in despair, you can be assured it is rooted in the horizontal, not the vertical. Jesus gave us a warning and a promise: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Where have you placed your hope today? Look up! Hold fast to the Word of our Lord!
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 