I hope…

I hope it cools off soon…I hope I can lose 20 pounds…I hope I win  a million bucks…

Although these things would be nice, but do we really expect these things to happen.  Do we hope with a confident expectation that the things we hope for will happen?

No, in most cases not only do we not expect them to come true but we would be very surprised if they did.  Can you imagine waking up tomorrow to snow, finding you can fit into jeans two sizes smaller and a man at the door with a check for one million dollars!

When the bible says to hope in God.  Is it asking us to view God with the same wishful thinking?

When the word hope is used in the bible it has the meaning of a confident expectation of good.

For I hope in You, O LORD; You will answer, O Lord my God. Psalm 38:15

How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God,   Psalm 146:5

Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, O LORD our God? Therefore we hope in You, For You are the one who has done all these things.  Jeremiah 14:22

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

We can hope in God, confidently expecting the God of hope to do just as He promised.  He is faithful.