Hope is an
emotion that we all experience at some point or another in our lives. We hope for little things that are truly
insignificant. We also hope for big things that could really change our lives.
Often times we get disappointed because what we had hoped for didn’t happen.
However, it wasn’t the act of hoping that upset us, it’s the fact that we
didn’t get what we had hoped for. God is not only epitome of
hopefulness; He is faithful to those of us who hope in Him.
Rahab is one of the most famous
women of the Bible and she absolutely fascinates me. Her predicament was
literally hopeless. She knew that something terrible was about to happen to her
city. This was probably the only place she had ever lived. Yet she found a
reason to hope. She chose to believe in the God that was not her own to find
that hope. This hope found her a place in Hebrews chapter eleven among many
true faithful of the Bible.
Rahab lived
in Jericho. She was a sinful woman, living in a sinful city. In our human eyes,
she was probably one of the worst sinners of her time. However, in God’s eyes
we are all sinners and not one worst than another. That is why He came to earth
as a man to die for the sins of us all. Rahab must have known this and that is
where she found her hope.
The people
of Jericho had heard stories of the Israelites. They had defeated all the
cities they had come to with the help of their God. Next thing they knew was
that their hometown, Jericho was in the path of the Israelites. They knew they
were about to be destroyed and were afraid. They had no hope. Knowing you are about to physically die can
be hopelessness, and it was hopeless for most of the people of Jericho.
Except of course for Rahab. She
found faith in a God she had only heard rumors about. She found faith in the
two spies she had just met and helped to hide on her roof. Because of her actions, she found faith in
the one true and living God. She found hope.
She found spiritual hope, which nothing can take away or
replace. She found hope not only for the present, but also for her future.
But what
about us? What happens when we are lost in the despair of hopelessness? We,
like the people of Jericho, may see no way out. Do we turn to the God of heaven
who created us and loves us or do we look within ourselves? Rahab only had
rumors and stories of this God and she believed with her whole heart. Today we
have His Word right in front of us where we can read first hand about the
wonders of His grace and mercy, His strength and power. Why do we always have
to turn away and look for hope elsewhere?
No matter
what the circumstances of our lives, we can put all of our faith and trust in
God. When we are going through difficult times, we can have hope. “But they
that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with
wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and
not faint” Isaiah 40:31. We can’t always see where God is working and what He
is doing for us. Sometimes we just have to trust Him. “For I know the thoughts
that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to
give you an excepted end” Jeremiah 29:11. Even when things are going well in
life, we can still have a hope because of our future. “For surely there is an
end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off” Proverbs 23:18. Even if we
know that physical death is imminent, we can have the hope of knowing where we
will spend eternity. If we already have that hope, we can share it with others.
We all need hope in our lives, but that hope should not focus on the things of
this world, but on God Himself, the true giver of hope.
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