Proverbs 13:12 (NLT)Have you ever heard of this old saying to describe hope? “There is light at the end of the tunnel.” Well, I took these photos to give you a visual of what hope looks like.
12Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true, there is life and joy.
Can you imagine the view; the grass has as it grows through the “tunnel”, looking up to heaven for the sunlight it requires to survive, even as it draws from the air the carbon dioxide and soil the water and nutrients it requires. Yet, if there is no light, it still would not have survived.
That light at the end of the tunnel is its hope. I can also imagine as it journey, through the dark tunnel, it must have developed some dreams and made a list of things it would want to do or to achieve in life. It might have said something like this, “When I get to the end of the tunnel and into the light, I will grow and flourish till my leaves once again touches the ground”.
That is what hope does, what hope gives, an opportunity to tough out the tough times so that your dreams may come true and with it comes life and joy.
Yes, it is also true that while going through the hard times, you may still experience disappointments and have your hopes dashed/broken by the pains and rejections encountered. Yet there is a hope that does not disappoint and that is God’s love for you. Whatever the challenges you have today, take heart in the knowledge that God loves you.
Romans 5:1-5 (NLT)The word expectation is also synonyms to hope, anticipation, belief, prospect and probability.
1Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory.
3We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us--they help us learn to endure. 4And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation.
5And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Note that in verse 5, the Holy Spirit has come to reveal God’s love for us and when you believe that God loves you, you will have a positive confident expectation of good things happening to you. This is what it means to have a hope that does not disappoint.
The Bible also says that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. (Hebrews 11:1) So when we don’t see good things happening in your circumstances right now, have faith, believing that God will turn things around because He favours you as His child.
The following are some additional scriptural verses that inspire hope:
Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)
What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.
Colossians 1:27 (NIV)
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
John 10:10 (NIV)
10… I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
2 Corinthians 4:8–9 (NLT)
8We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. 9We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.
Romans 8:31 (NIV)
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
John 8:12 (NLT)
Jesus said to the people, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life."
I love this post - thank you!
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