Hope. The defining factor between Christianity and Secularism. As I wrote about in my previous post, defining hope within Christ, we understand hope as being grounded on the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and truth of the Gospel, complete contentment within Christ and His plan, having released our sorrows and stress to Him, which allows us to look forward to the future “with eager expectation.”

In times like this, it can be difficult to have hope. Terror, with its contagious cold, takes ahold of even the bravest of men. Despair, with its fingers of dread, creeps in like a thief at night. One by one, we succumb to terror, and in our terror, we are moved to despair.

And yet God is a God of hope! These words seem to be the most difficult to utter, but they remain true. In the middle of the storm, God is there. He has all power, He has a plan, and it is good. And, through this plan, we have received faith and rejoice in our hope. He sent His son into a world far worse then one inhabited with the coronavirus, malaria, or even ebola. He sent his son into a world inhabited with sin, with the purpose of defeating that sin and ultimately eradicating it from humanity.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1, New International Version

When we put together what we’ve learned in the last few posts, we get a complete picture of hope, joy, and freedom from anxiety. In my post “What Does It Mean To Have True Hope?”, we learned the definition of hope and how to truly hope in the future by laying our burdens upon him. This post built upon the truths discussed in “God: All Powerful and All Good”. Because God is all-powerful and all-good, He must have a plan, and it must be good. Because we can hope in this plan, and trust that He has full control over our lives, we can release our burdens to Him. Once we have released our burdens upon him, and look upon the glorious future before us in Heaven, we can have true, everlasting, and fulfilling hope.

Sadly, hope is often temporary. In some ways, it can be compared to the eye of a hurricane; a brief respite before the storm continues. This analogy is perfect when used with the lyrics of the song “Eye of the Storm” by Ryan Stevenson.

In the eye of the storm
You remain in control
And in the middle of the war
You guard my soul
You alone are the anchor
When my sails are torn
Your love surrounds me
In the eye of the storm

Ryan Stevenson “Eye of the Storm”

In the eye of the storm (a time of peace), God is in control. In the middle of the war (a time of strife), God is in control. He guards our souls, and He is the anchor.

Where does this come from? Hebrews 6:19-20 says, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

Christ is our anchor, the securing line that keeps us where we are, no matter what winds blow. More than just an anchor, He is also the High Priest, the one that crossed the gulf between man and God and gave us a bridge to our Creator. In this, He also separates humanity. Some chose the bridge, some chose the pit. Some chose to follow themselves, others chose to follow the One that created and defines leadership.

Christ is our anchor, the securing line that keeps us where we are, no matter what winds blow. More than just an anchor, He is also the High Priest, the one that crossed the gulf between man and God and gave us a bridge to our Creator.

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Hope is the most obvious line between believers and unbelievers, as we have already discussed. In a way, hope is the unmentioned fruit of the Spirit. A man that has permanently lost his hope cannot be a Christian unless he finds hope within his Savior. True, some Christians go through periods in which they lose their hope; take a look at John the Baptist, the classic example of a man ironically losing his hope because Jesus didn’t meet his expectations. Even though that he knew Jesus personally, and was even related to Him, John lost his hope upon being put into prison. Do you know what happened? Jesus graciously reaffirmed to John who He was, and it seems that John found hope again. He was executed, but this was part of God’s plan, and John is even now in a better place.

A Christian without hope is like a dry well- it produces nothing and helps nobody. Yet a Christian with hope, brought on by grace through Christ Jesus, is like an abundant spring- refreshing to those around it. And so, even in this difficult and trying time, remember- Christ is your anchor, and He gives you hope for the future. Let that hope be a defining line between you and the unbelievers around you, a light shining into the darkness. Finally, let the hope transform you into the man/woman that Christ wants you to be. Amen.

Alright, that’s all for today. Thank you so much for reading! I really hope you were refreshed by this post. If you were, feel free to click that Follow button below (or to the side). That way, when I release a new post like this, you’ll get notified. Thanks again, and I really hope you have a fantastic day.

Note: All Scriptural quotations are taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise indicated. “Eye of the Storm” song rights belong to Ryan Stevenson. I did not write that song.

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