Hope is the desire of a good future, and faith is the assurance of that future. From my early childhood days, through the grace and love of God, I’d been called and partook in the Christian life. “Oh taste and see the Lord is good” was the verse that got me to our gracious Father as far as I can remember.
In fact, I mistook the word “taste” as “test” and tested God with simple but honest prayers. Early on, and of course even now, it was the fact that God provides, God does what He says, and God loves us so much to the extent that He would send His only Son our Lord to the cross to pay for our sins, fueled my Christian life through my formative years even if my knowledge was very basic.
Basically, God’s deep love (image of the cross), fear of God (God hates sin), and providence of God (He wouldn’t let me down) shaped my faith through various phases in life, and yes, God delivered.
During what seemed to be hopeless situations in life, faith gave me hope and assurance that God has a plan for me and that there are answers to my tears. As I continue in this journey, I know that God has delivered me before and He will deliver me again. So hope and faith grew stronger with time.
In my spiritual journey, God graciously provided wisdom and knowledge, and I began understanding more deeply the tenets and truths of Christianity. Long story short, it’s not an organized religion full of rituals and customs, but the christian life is a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Son of God and God himself!
Now how do I make my case, my faith, to you who is reading this? How do I convey or reason my hope to someone who doesn’t know Christ or perhaps has strayed away from God? Perhaps it’s worth starting from what exactly my hope is.
Our Lord promises to all believers that if we believe in Him, confess our faith, and abide in His word, we’ll share in His eternal blessings and in heaven receive an eternal life full of joy with no tears or pain.
1 Corinthians 2:9: “However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ – the things God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Another verse in the Bible expands on the joy to come that is incomparable to the pleasures on earth, and the transient pain and loss we suffer here. By “transcend,” I mean the truth and blessings we receive by journeying faithfully to the end will heal the scars of all the battles we faced on earth.
Romans 8:18: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
God’s promise to us in the Lord Jesus Christ is on a whole different level, and this is my hope. God, through the Lord Jesus, offers a solution to the problem of death and to all troubles.
Revelation 2:10: “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.”
Revelation 2:26: “To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations.”
Hebrews 6:17–18: “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath…”
Isn’t that incredible - God taking an oath so that our hope may be bolstered?
As much as one can certainly rationally defend that Lord Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and life, I would certainly encourage anyone reading this to taste and see that the Lord is good (Just talk to him!). The hope that will give peace through the truth has no rival in this fallen world. Praise be to God for his all wise and incredible plan, and I thank God for inviting me in. And He invites you as well.