Enduring Hope: Trusting God When the Future Is UncertainSample

Saved by Hope

Read: Romans 8:18–25

SOAP: Romans 8:24–25

For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance.

Into the Text

Putting our hope in God is not a passive action. Instead, it is a conscious choice, a daily commitment to remember who He is and what He has promised. Each time we cling to His promises, each time we remember how God has promised redemption, we increase our hope.

The suffering we experience in this world is a result of sin. Our personal suffering may not be the result of sin, but the reason for brokenness, pain, bondage, and decay is sin. Even creation suffers under the weight of sin, itself in bondage to decay. Our world cries out, groaning, hoping for freedom and redemption.

We too are waiting for redemption. And when we are in Christ, we have the gift of hope in what is to come. He has promised glorious redemption, both the physical and spiritual redemption of our bodies, but that is still to come. We live in the tension of knowing what was promised and awaiting its arrival. We live in the “not yet.”

But in the “not yet” we cling to hope—the hope of complete redemption through the work of Jesus Christ. In the midst of bondage, we cling to this hope. In the midst of decay, we cling to this hope. As our bodies break, our minds change, our loved ones die, or our governments crumble, we cling to this hope. For in this hope, we are saved. When our hope is in the work of Christ, in His sacrifice, resurrection, and return, we are saved.

This hope is what allows us to continue. Without the hope that we will one day experience the glory of Christ and our complete redemption, we have no reason to trust Him. Our active choice to daily cling to His promises is what increases our hope.

It may not get easier in this life, but we can learn to endure. Endurance is a practice, a discipline. We only learn endurance by enduring. As we choose to believe that the One who saved us will also redeem us from suffering, we build our endurance by eagerly awaiting His return.