Hope Is a Person Sýnishorn

Hope means waiting and waiting is hard

Isaiah 40:31 NKJV says “...those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength”. The same verse in NLT translates the word wait to trust. And in the NIV, the word is hope. So which is it? Wait, trust, or hope? It’s important to know, because the renewing of our strength is at stake!

The Hebrew word in Isaiah 40:31 is qavah, a verb, which means waiting with hopeful expectation. This is not a passive, idle, waiting but it is actively waiting, anticipating, looking eagerly for and leaning into, like an anxious runner at the start line of a race. 

Waiting in hope during hard circumstances is very difficult. We identify with David in Psalms 13:1 when he asks, “How long, Lord?” How long before my grief isn’t crippling? How long before my teen son stops rebelling? How long before my unbelieving spouse turns to You? How long will I be without a job? How long must I endure this pain? 

Waiting in our suffering requires patience and endurance, both difficult to develop. When we exercise our biceps, we may have to begin with a 5- or 10-pound weight with a goal to increase from there as we become stronger, but growth won’t happen without effort. In the same way, as we choose to exercise our patience and endurance, soon the gaps between our impatience and wanting to give up grow shorter and shorter as our spiritual muscles develop. It requires wrestling with God, again and again, lamenting our dark thoughts and heart-wrenching prayers to Him, not moving ahead, but giving Him space to move in our situation. And He will move, in His timing and for our good, if we continue to wait for Him.

In this difficult enduring and waiting, Paul offers us another way to gain strength: by rejoicing in hope! He should know. Acts 16 tells of a time when he and Silas were chained and imprisoned with others when their prayers and singing coincided with a violent earthquake which opened the prison doors, “and everyone’s chains came loose”! This was only possible because in their suffering they were waiting expectantly for the God of Hope. 

He offers us the same promise and meets us with grace and mercy when we finally cry out from beneath the rubble of our despair, “We choose You! You are our victory! We will overcome through You! You are our only Hope.” 

We can go through the motions of life trying to survive on our own, or we can actively wait on God, put our hope in Him and gain new strength. And when we falter and fail in our waiting or our Hope in God fades because of our fears, there is no shame. He is right there waiting for us to repent of our wrong thoughts and turn back to Him.

His hope for us has no end. 

“...do not grieve, for the joy of the lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 NIV