Hope is confidence in an optimistic expectation. But hope lives in the tension of struggle. Job had more reason than most to be hopeless after losing everything valuable to him including his health. Yet Job (13:15) declared, “Even though he slays me, yet I will hope in Him.” Frequently in the Psalms David asked, “Why are you, my soul, downcast?” Then he instructed himself, “Put your hope in God.” Romans 4:18 says Abraham hoped against all hope. Hope is often built through seeing God take you through struggles. Hope is exercised where tangible reasons for hope are in short supply.
Adrian Timmons 