What We Think About GodSample

THE COMPANION ELDER OF HOPE

There’s a little verse buried in the Proverbs which captures the critical importance of having something to long for that is bigger than ourselves and our situations: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life” (Prov. 13:12). When we have nothing to look towards to promise us something greater, we wither. 

This is how every person on earth was made. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that “God has set eternity in our hearts.” 

This is a powerful, powerful statement of fact. A synonym for the idea of hope is a longing, a desire of the heart. It’s the moment right before our loved one steps off the plane. It’s the day before the line-up is posted on who made the soccer team. It’s the second before the doctor enters the hospital room with the test results. 

Hope is that invisible string that keeps us moving forward. Sometimes, it’s the lifeline to pull us to safety from our moments of darkness. But, really, hope is something even grander than these because each of our hopes here on earth stem from the fact that we are born to know that the One who made everything has the ability to change anything.

Charles Spurgeon went so far as to say that, “Without Christ there is no hope.” No Jesus, no real hope. And pastor Louie Giglio fleshes this idea out, saying, “Simply by our proximity to Jesus, we can bring hope and life to people and places trapped in discouragement and despair.” 

Isaiah 40:31 is an anthem to the outcome of hope: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” 

Hope gives us the power to keep going—whether we run through great seasons of life, walk through trials and hardships, or crawl to safety to rest for a while. 

Missionary Lilias Trotter once wrote, “God only knows the endless possibility that lie folded in each one of us!” What better and more life-transforming statement could there be? 

Each of us was made for a purpose, with a story that is uniquely ours. God is stirring in each of us a desire to know him better, trust him more, and point people to him so that they can go and do likewise. 

STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Consider a time when your hope waned. How did God meet you there?  

2. What, in your opinion, is the connection between hope and our witness?

3. As you read “God only knows the endless possibilities that lie folded in each of us,” what emotions and thoughts emerge? What fears emerge?

4. As you consider your witness in the world, how can your hope that God is with us and that he will make all things right be a springboard for sharing the gospel?

Want more resources like this? Visit BillyGrahamCenter.com and OurGospelStory.com to find other resources and studies to equip you to show & share the love of Jesus in our broken and hurting world. 

©2019 Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.