Hope may not be a fruit of the Spirit, but it is a Christian virtue. And the authors of the New Testament presume that those who are in Christ will grow in hope just as they grow in love and faith. (See Romans 15:13, 1 Peter 1:13, and Hebrews 6:11, for example.)
How therefore do we grow in hope?
The Christian life—and human life in general—offers scores of opportunities to increase our hope reflexes. In this post we’ll address the path to hope through sorrow.
Recognizing All That is Not Right
Here’s my definition of Christian hope: hope is the joyful expectation that God will keep his promises. Some events in our lives offer a brief taste of those kept promises, making us aware of the great fulfillment that is to come. (This will be the subject of a future post.) Yet some circumstances make us see just how far we are away from that fulfillment.
In a world marked by sin, we are bound to see misery and sadness all around us. God does not expect us to pretend that everything is fine; he has given us lament as a category of prayer for just these confusing, dispiriting, and gut-wrenching times.
However, properly understood, lament ends in hope. So, these times of great sadness can be opportunities to grow in this powerful Christian virtue.
Injustice
We do not need to search very hard for examples of injustice in the world. Many Christians have been the target of unjust actions or policies, and all of us have observed gross acts of injustice throughout the world.
We rightly cry out when the wicked flourish and the righteous are victims of hatred and violence.
God is just, and he promises that justice will rule one day. A key part of growing in hope is learning these promises, resting on them, and expecting God to keep them.
Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:1–4)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23:5–6)
Additionally, the notion of hell depends in part on God’s justice. Because God is holy and humans sin against him, these offenses must be dealt with. For Christians, the wrath of God was satisfied at the cross (1 Peter 2:24), and for unbelievers, God will be vindicated in hell (see Matthew 25:31–46, Revelation 21:8).
Sickness and Death
Sickness and death are one of the greatest causes of our sorrow. And we rightly lament this reality because this is not the way things should be. And, of course, this is not the way things will be!
Jesus’s resurrection is the sure sign that resurrection is to come for those united to him. We have these sure promises.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:50–53)
The promise of bodily resurrection from the dead is fundamental to Christian hope. But we must not let familiarity with this promise dull its extravagant audacity. Raised from the dead! New bodies!
Loneliness
Many commenters have written about a modern epidemic of loneliness, but a sorrowful aloneness has been a part of the human experience for millennia. We rightly mourn the loss of relationships and the absence or coolness of friends, but our mourning can point us to a better day on the horizon.
Yes, God is present with his people now and has promised not to forsake them (Hebrews 13:5). But a greater sense of God’s presence awaits us.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (Revelation 21:1–3)
God will be with us as our God; he will dwell with us—in fact, that will be his dwelling place.
For those in Christ, all loneliness has an expiration date. God has promised.
From Sadness to Hope
Sorrow is nothing to seek out, but rightly understood it is an opportunity to grow.
Our prayers of lament begin with complaint but they end in hope. We realize that our aching and sadness is a longing for something God has promised. We can build a solid foundation on God’s promises, joyfully anticipating the way he will keep them and turn our sadness on its head.