There’s a Bible verse I’ve been saying in my head on repeat lately:
“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed…” (Romans 4:18, NIV) I find the contradiction of it comforting and oddly freeing – that against hope, Abraham in hope believed. Abraham had no reason to hope. No rational or logical proof to hope. He was told he would be the father of many nations when he was 100 years old and his wife was barren, but he still believed that what God said would come true despite their limitations. As the scripture goes on to say, Abraham’s belief that "God was able to do what he promised” was credited to him as righteousness. There is something so gloriously simple about that – to have righteousness through believing. And yet, so very hard to do. Hope is a four-letter word that is easier said than done. It can sometimes feel hard to have hope for something we desire and create space for it in our hearts. Overtime that space can begin to feel like an empty place when it is not yet filled. And yet, hope can be a tremendous blessing. So, how do we do it? I think the key is in this seven-word verse… which is why I love it.
“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed….” Hope isn’t something we do or feel or create for ourselves, it’s something we believe in. Abraham believed in hope – a hope that was placed in God and His ability to act on His promises.
Putting our hope in something will likely always fail us. Putting our hope in the living God is another story. Hope is not a posture that can be taken lightly. It is something we do with two feet firmly planted in the reality of our limitations. Like Abraham, hope doesn’t mean that we aren’t honest about the challenges we are facing. It means that our faith is not placed on what we know alone, but in the God who made us.