Waiting Confidently

Sitting alone on a beautiful beach in the fog might seem disheartening, particularly if one is on vacation hoping for winter warmth on a sunny, southern beach. Yet, there is hope! The weather forecast is confidently predicting that the fog will clear. It is a matter of patiently waiting. The sun will shine!

The dictionary defines hope as “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” Hope energizes and motivates! Even if it is fragile and wishful, life would lose meaning without it. However, “wishful hope” is conditional upon unreliable outcomes. Although it may lead to happiness and gratitude, it may also result in disappointment, lonliness, despair, despondency, being overwhelmed, giving up, and suicide. In the words of Scottish poet Robert Burns, “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men / Gang aft agley (often go awry).”

In contrast, biblical hope is different and substantive. It is a confidence, an assurance, a certainty based on God’s character, His promises, and His principles for living. This hope gives meaning to the present and a confident anticipation for an eternal future. The Apostle Paul addressed waiting expectantly and patiently when he wrote about the promises of redemption and the future restoration of creation: “For in this hope we were saved…we wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8:24-25)

Faith empowers believers to deal optimistically, courageously, and with assurance that all life’s circumstances are purposeful regardless of how murky or mysterious or baffling they may be. For the Christian believer, there is a confident expectation of an eternal future. Thankfully, this hope rests in the person and work of Christ not in one’s personal goodness or good deeds which are inconsistent at best. His sacrificial death paid the price for humanity’s sinfulness and restores any person to God through their trust in his atoning mercy and grace. He promises his presence with us always, and his resurrection guarantees a future beyond the grave.

Those of faith may wait in difficult circumstances, but they can do so with the certainty that God is present and that the sun is already shining on their future.