You Need to Work on Hope

​And now these three remain: Faith, Hope and Love. But the greatest of these is Love. 1 Corinth 13:13

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Faith and Hope

​I've been struggling with understanding the difference between faith and hope. Love is easy to distinguish, but telling faith and hope apart is a bit tricky, I feel. All my life I always feel like they're almost one and the same.

I always hold on to this definition of faith from Hebrew 11:1:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

But I'm not sure I understand it fully. I want so much to understand what faith means, because it's what touches God's heart. It's what pleases Him. It's the 'wow' factor He's looking for in us, it's what impresses Him.

"Your faith has made you well." (e.g. Mark 5:34, Matthew 9:22, Luke 17:19)
"Your faith has saved you." (e.g. Luke 7:50, Mark 10:52)

The Gospels record many instances of Jesus being "amazed" by someone's faith. For example,

"When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Luke 7:9 

Though there were times when Jesus could also be (sadly) amazed by lack of faith.

He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. (Mark 6: 5-6)

Without faith, it's impossible to please God:

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrew 11:6)

So, what is Faith?

Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20)

In my understanding, faith is believing that God can. That God is able. That He can and is able to do the impossible.

But what about hope? I found myself going back to Hebrew 11:1 again and again.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Confidence in what we hope for. It seems like hope is part of faith, it provides part of the definition for faith.

So, what is Hope?

I've been pondering upon this, about what hope means, for many years. But this morning, during my quiet contemplation, I suddenly realised what hope might mean.

I've been praying for God to intervene in my life. I trust that He can do it. I know that He is able to do the impossible. So, does that mean I have faith? I guess so.

But at the same time, I also wondered why I still struggled a lot with doubts. "I trust you, Lord!" I cried in my heart of hearts. "Please get rid of these doubts within me."

I prayed for more faith. I prayed for increased faith. This has been my prayers for many months, actually. But this morning, it felt as if I was praying more intensely than usual.

"Answer me, Lord!" "Why am I still doubting?" "I believe, Lord! Help my unbelief!" "Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me for my lack of faith!"

Then I felt God speaking softly to my heart. 

"Your faith, dear child, pleases me."

I didn't see it coming. "Really, Lord?"

"Yes."
"So, why am I miserable?"
"You need to work on hope."

I didn't know how to respond. Then I said, meekly. "I don't know how, Lord."

"Do you believe I can?"
"Yes."
"Do you believe I'm able to?"
"Yes. Yes!"
"Do you believe I want to?"
(Silence).
"You don't think I'm willing. Why?"
"Because I'm unworthy." ?
"You need to work on hope."

Then it all started to make sense. 

Faith is believing that God is great, powerful, and mighty. He can do it for me. He is able to do it for me, no matter how impossible the situation seems.

Hope is believing that God is loving, kind, and compassionate. He wants to do it for me. He is willing to do it for me, no matter how undeserving I think I am.

And the greatest is Love. Yes, it's the greatest - because faith and hope can't exist without Love. 

~ccj, 26102021 #breadcrumbs

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