Several years ago I stumbled upon a book written by our current president entitled “The audacity of hope”. The book talks primarily about reclaiming the American dream but it bears merit here because some of us are not living God’s dream for our lives. Hebrews 11:1 says faith is the substance of things hoped for… Last week we talked about faith and defined faith simply as “Belief in God”; Hebrews 11:6 gives us the basis for that definition. So if faith is the substance of things hoped for, then what exactly is hope?
Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. It is synonymous with the the words expectation and expectancy. What are you expecting from God today? I don’t know about you guys but it’s easy to become cynical and say things like “If it happens, It happens” or “Whatever happens, happens” especially if you’ve been hurt and disappointed so many times but Philippians 4: 6 says “Do not be anxious (The word anxious is defined as experiencing worry, unease, or nervousness, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome) about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Our requests to God should be specific and not wishy-washy. We know this because James 1:5-10 gives us insight into this. Rather than going through life expecting nothing to happen as evidenced by our words, let’s start living in an atmosphere of expectancy. Make your request to God based on His word known to Him, have faith (Believe Him) and expect Him to come through! Have the audacity to hope (expect God to move on your behalf)!
Psalm 27:13 says I would have lost heart (despaired), unless I believed I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Despair is defined as the complete loss or absence of hope. and the word believed can also be said as “earnest expectation” now if we rewrite this passage based on all the definitions it would read as follows: ” I would have a complete loss or absence of expectancy unless I earnestly expected to see the goodness of God in the land of the living.” Powerful, isn’t it? Our earnest expectation of God’s goodness in our lives isn’t just for when we get to Heaven but it’s also for us here on earth.
Start to earnestly expect to see the goodness of God in your life while you’re here on earth and watch Him come through. Selah!