Hope is not Horizontal

Hope…it’s something we look for, but where are we looking? This statement from Paul David Tripp gave me something to ponder over. He says, “Sturdy hope, hope that won’t ever fail you or leave you embarrassed, is only found vertically.” It makes perfect sense! If we look for hope horizontally then we only find a hope that will fail. Looking horizontally means I’m looking at others just like myself. I may find a fleeting hope, a bit of hope that is at best temporary on this level.

We find our sure hope, eternal hope in Jesus. Jeremiah gives us these words of truth, “I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope.” 29:11 (CEB) That hope is the gift of eternal life that is ours through giving our lives and hearts to Jesus. One definition of hope given in Webster’s Dictionary is, someone (or something) on which hopes are centered. (n). Yet another definition is, to expect with confidence (v). I think we can use both to describe the hope we have in Jesus. He is the someone on which our hopes are centered and we by faith expect with confidence.

As I was reading a completely different devotion today, one whose subject was not on hope I saw this quote from Hannah Whitall Smith and I thought it perfect to go along with today’s devotion. “Our souls were made to live in an upper atmosphere, and we stifle and choke if we live on any lower level. Our eyes were made to look off from these heavenly heights, and our vision is distorted by any lower gazing.” Look up, look up!

One last reminder, this one from Paul in his letter to the Colossians. From chapter one (1) verse twenty-seven (27) he tells us, “God wanted to make the glorious riches of this secret plan known among the Gentiles, which is Christ living in you, the hope of glory.” This great hope lives within each of us if we have accepted Jesus as our Savior.

How is your hope? Does it bounce back after being hit? Does it cause you to doubt when you lose hope in a situation? When you are facing tests of faith, even the strongest Christians can find it a challenge to find hope.

I close today with this prayer of hope:

Lord, I maintain my hope in You and I hold onto the assurance that what I am praying for is already accomplished in the name of Jesus. Your Word promises “no good thing does He withhold from those that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). I wait upon You for Your definition of the “good thing” You will not withhold from me. As David prayed in Psalm 18:1: “I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

(biblestudytools.com)