The Difference Between “Wishful Thinking” and Living Hope

The devotions this week featured key words that are, for many, hard to swallow and even harder to digest: 

♦   Surrender   ♦   Slavery   ♦   Failure   ♦   War

Each was presented in a biblical context to give us hope that:

(1) Victory results when we surrender our wills to that of the Lord.

(2) Freedom found only in Christ breaks the chains of slavery to sin.

(3) Deep, abiding faith is often born out of abject failures.

(4) Peace that passes all understanding can be ours even in the midst of spiritual warfare.   

Today our focus is this hope to which I referred above.  Most people reach a point in life when we come to the realization that human hope is little more than wishful thinking.  It has no basis in reality or foundation upon which we may build, much less cling to, such hope.  

As discouraging as that is for most, in Christ we have certain hope.  That may, again, seem somewhat of an oxymoron, but if you examine the Scriptures, it will become clear and make perfect sense.  Here are a just a couple of verses to help encourage your heart when circumstances overwhelm, people disappoint, or it seems Satan has a special posse whose assignment is to attack you on every front.  

(Romans 15:4 NIV)

♦  (1 Peter 1: 3  NASB)

(Romans 15: 13 NASB),