Hope is what faith gives us while we are waiting for an answer. The kind of hope we learn about in Scripture is what confidence looks like when we are convinced that God is in control.
People with this kind of hope are able to live with unanswered questions and yet-to-be-fulfilled promises. Like those whose stories are profiled in Hebrews 11, they “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (v. 16).
Living by faith often means waiting with hope. We obey, wait, trust, and sometimes even suffer, knowing that God is neither forgetful nor unfaithful. He will do what He has promised. He will do all that He has promised.
When you find yourself in a long and hard time of waiting, ask:
1. What promises has God already fulfilled? This may take some reflection on your own life, as well as some meditation on Scripture, yet it will bring your thoughts into the greater reality of God’s agenda. You will begin to see that behind the delays and beyond the setbacks, God is working still.
2. Has God changed? If He has, then worrying might be acceptable. But if He hasn’t, then know that because you are in the midst of His kingdom expansion, even your waiting has sacred purposes. You can pray. You can praise. You can acknowledge Him to others.
Imagine what God can do through the life of those who wait with hope.
In this hope we were saved.
Now hope that is seen is not hope.
For who hopes for what he sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see,
we wait for it with patience.
(Romans 8:24–25 ESV)