Misplaced Hope
Hope… when you are full of it, you and everyone else know it. When you are empty of it, you and everyone else know it too. Hope brings motivation, brings perseverance, brings determination, brings something out of us that people long for. Lack of hope brings fear, brings lethargy, brings despair, brings us to the place where we do not even want to get out of bed.
But anyone can have hope, right? We can place our hope in a number of things, good things. Hope in our spouse and our plans for the future, hope in our children and what kind of beautiful lives they will live, hope in our friends and grateful we have people we can depend upon, hope in our job and the success it could bring, hope in our church and how it will minister to us and our community, hope in other people in our lives, even hope in ourselves. When our circumstances are coasting us smoothly through life, we can feel that our hope is grounded and solid.
But what if… our marriage begins to fall apart and we are left alone to face decisions we never dreamed of. What if… our children begin to take a path we would never approve of and they grow farther and farther away. What if… the friends we thought would always be there, betray us or grow distant. What if… we loose that job that has brought our family such stability. What if… that church we love so much begins to fall apart at the seams. What if… that awful diagnosis comes. What if… brokenness deeply affects our lives.
How do we face these circumstances with Hope, true Hope? How do we have a solid strong faith and love through the good and the very difficult times in our lives? Colossians one begins to dive into what a solid hope that produces deep faith and love looks like.
“When our feet are planted in this hope, no matter what we face, our faith and love can grow even in the most debilitating circumstances.”
In Colossians one, Paul is commending the church at Colosse of their faith and love. These two characteristics are making an impact on the community around them and spreading further throughout the region. But in these verses, Paul tells us where this strong faith and love for all the saints comes from…it comes from Hope.
I love the word that Paul uses here in verse five, it’s a greek word meaning “through” or “springing from” or the channel through which it goes through. After describing the great faith and love of the people in Colosse, he uses this word, springing from this Hope the people had.
Eternal Hope
“But where is this Hope found in?” You may ask. Paul tells us it comes from two places. First, from the hope in what is stored up for us in our eternal home of heaven. This world is not our home. This world is not what God originally made it to be; it was made perfect, but is now full of sin and pain and brokenness. But heaven is where God will restore what has been broken, where God will be with us, where God will wipe away every tear, where we will see the person and glory of our Heavenly Father. My home is not Chattanooga, Tennessee, my citizenship is not in the United States of America, this earth is not my ultimate destination. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”(Philippians 3:20)
When we shift our perspective to our eternal hope of heaven where our faith will be made sight, our hope begins to have a solid, sure foundation. The brokenness, the pain, the hurt, the confusion will pass, and one day we will see the glory of God the Father face to face, worshiping Him and throwing our crowns at the feet of our Savior.
Hope in God’s Word
Secondly, this hope is based on the Word of Truth or more specifically, the gospel; the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is (as we will talk about later) “the image of the invisible God” who gave His life for the curse of sin, conquering sin, hell and the grave. As believers today in 2024, we hold in our hands the written Word of Truth, the Bible. We don’t have to doubt, we have truth. How do we let it affect our lives? Do we know it?
If that Hope is to be rooted in the Word of Truth, we have got to open the Bible up and study it. Notice I didn’t say read, but study. Studying means we let it simmer in our hearts and minds as we read it, we read it in context to find out what God meant to say through the original author, understanding the Bible is not a story about us, but a story about God. It doesn’t mean hours alone in a coffee shop (although I’d love that), but meditating on it and abiding in Him through it, sometimes by just one verse at a time.
Faith and love spring from this kind of Hope, a hope in heaven and a hope in the Word of Truth. When our feet are planted in this hope, no matter what we face, our faith and love can grow even in the most debilitating circumstances.
There have been times in my life where I have sat broken, and I wished my faith was stronger. And other times I have walked through life situations where I knew my love was lacking. I was not loving like Christ, and honestly didn’t really know how to. There have been times where I have been hopeless, living in despair and fear. I’ve learned that often during these times I have placed my hope in people, things, or circumstances that are not eternal and steadfast. Our Heavenly Father is the only one who can fulfill true living hope. If my hope is firm and steadfast in Him there my faith and love will spring forth from within me.
My heart needed this truth, how about yours? Let’s plant our feet in the hope of heaven and the gospel. Although trials, and storms, and life shattering circumstances may come our way, God can take those and strengthen our faith and love even deeper than we can imagine.
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate God’s grace.”
