The confession of our hope without wavering
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Heb. 10:23 ESV)
Many years ago, during the "Jesus Movement," Christian coffeehouses began popping up across the country, run by converted hippies, gang members, and others. As a youth worker at the time, I became friends with several of these individuals. One of them was a large, loud, and charismatic former Hells Angel type of biker. He drew big crowds of young people and had a powerful ministry among them. However, over time, something went wrong. He lost sight of his original calling which was to love and proclaim Christ. His passion for ministry faded, and he began reverting to his old habits—reacting angrily, and using profanity. Before long, his once-thriving coffeehouse shut down. The last time I saw him, it was as though he had never been a Christian. He was angry, critical, and vindictive. What happened? The short answer is that he stopped putting Christ first in his life and ministry. He began to focus instead on other things. He started to waver in his faith, he lost hope, he became lukewarm, then cold, and finally he walked away; Jesus warns us to guard against this. He says, "I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place." (Revelation 2:4-5)
What to do
It was sad to see what had happened to this once-excited coffeehouse leader. I’ve watched the same thing happen to others over the years. They start off strong but eventually waver, lose hope, and fail. There are many ways you can grow cold in your relationship with Christ. You can stop praying, stop reading the Bible, stop fellowshipping with others, and stop attending church, just to name a few. The coffeehouse leader failed in part because he allowed other things to distract him from his primary mission. However, the passage at the top of the page offers another explanation: you must unwaveringly confess your hope because God is faithful. Why is that important? There’s another passage that says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov. 13:12). Another way of saying this is, If you put hope aside, your heart will become sick. Therefore, don’t waver in hope because it is critical to your relationship with God! Let’s look at some other Bible passages about hope to find out why it’s so.
Our hope is in the living God
“That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.” (Tim 4:10 NIV)
Hope will come through the encouragement of Scriptures
“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Rom. 15:4 ESV)
We’re born again to a living hope
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3 ESV)
“So that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:7 ESV)
God gives a future and a hope
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jer. 29:11 ESV)
Therefore
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (Rom. 12:12 ESV)
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lam. 3:24 ESV)
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Rom. 15:13 ESV)
Quote:
“The hope that God has provided for you is not merely a wish. Neither is it dependent on other people, possessions, or circumstances for its validity. Instead, biblical hope is an application of your faith that supplies a confident expectation in God's fulfillment of His promises. Coupled with faith and love, hope is part of the abiding characteristics in a believer's life.” - John C. Broger