It is impossible to live without hope. Job lost everything and was also beginning to lose his strength. He would rather have died. Job’s so-called friends come to encourage him, but his response to their advice is that of a man without hope (see Job 6). False hope causes people to plan, build and take risks for something that is unlikely to happen. People place their hope in different things, only to be disappointed in the end.
First, people place false hope in wealth. In Psalm 52, David condemns his enemies who place their hope in riches. Paul also tells Timothy to teach the believers in Ephesus about false hope in wealth: “Tell those who are rich in this world not to be proud or to trust in their money, which will soon disappear” (1 Timothy 6:17). Second, we often place our hope in people by mistake. Psalm 118:8 warns us not to rely on people: “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to rely on people.” Jeremiah writes the same in Jeremiah 17:5: “The Lord says: A curse rests on those who put their trust in ordinary people.” Third, hope in idols is always false. An idol is anything we place above God. Habakkuk explains in Habakkuk 2:18 how foolish it is to place your hope in a man-made invention: “What is the use of worshipping man-made idols? It is foolish to place your trust in something you made with your own hands.” People in the world often find it more acceptable to place their trust and hope in governments. Isaiah warns the people of Judah in Isaiah 31:1 to avoid this mistake: “Destruction surely awaits anyone who looks to Egypt for help. They trust in Egypt with its many horses and strong riders instead of trusting in the Holy One of Israel.”
True hope is found only in God. Hope is as real and powerful as the power and character of the One who offers it—the Source of hope. All the writers of the New Testament write about hope. Paul, Peter and John write about the hope we have through the promise of eternal life. We are encouraged to live pure lives as we wait for this promise to be fulfilled.
God and His promises are the reason for our hope. Hope gives us the ability to persevere. Nowhere are our faith and expectation expressed more clearly than in Romans 5:3-5: “We also rejoice in suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces proven faith, and proven faith produces hope.”
Written by Hendrik Nel