Hope is the spiritual anchor for the soul. Hopelessness leads to despair. Hope pushes us toward joy and peace. Biblical hope is not a wish or a desire expressed in a statement like, “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.” Hope in God produces certainty and confidence because it is based in the Person of God. He is trustworthy. His Word is true. He will never go back on his promises. Hope is rooted in God’s love, mercy, and grace.

Jeremiah 17:7-8, 13
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.

Jeremiah was writing to people going through difficult times. But during their challenges, Jeremiah could say with boldness that Yahweh was the hope of Israel, miqwah Yisrael. God would always come through—in his way and in his timing. Even in the darkest night, Israel knew that the sun would rise and God’s peace would come in the morning.

As believers, our hope is fixed in Jesus. His death and resurrection give us the assurance that our sins are paid for in full, and we will follow him one day in our personal resurrection as we pass from death to life. His Spirit empowers us during our time on this earth, and we know that the moment we are absent from the body, we will be present with the Lord. An old hymn says it like this:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

Lord Jesus,
I put my hope in you alone. My hope is built on nothing less than your life, death, burial, and resurrection. You are my hope, my rock. All other ground is sinking sand.
I pray in your name. Amen.