The Hope That Is In You
Submitted by Ted Mock
March 12, 2025
1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
We live in a world where the word “hope” has the meaning of “wishful thinking.” We hope everything will work out, we hope it will not rain on our picnic, we hope we will win the lottery, and on and on we go, trusting in wishing things would go one way or another.
This definition is far removed from what the Bible has to say to the believer about hope. Peter writes of “a lively hope” in chapter one verse 3. Later in verse 13, he encourages us “to hope to the end.” In verse 21, “that your faith and hope might be in God.”
In short, Biblically speaking, hope is a confident expectation that God will do what He promises. It is not wishful thinking. Faith is not taking a leap in the dark, but a step in the light—the light of His Word. See Hebrews 11:1 and 6:18-19.
Unlike the unbeliever, who has no hope but the wishing kind, our hope is an anchor that is sure and steadfast because we believe in a God who cannot lie and is true to His word. In a world that is full of doubt and confusion, I have a hope that is an anchor for my soul.
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace;
in every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, his covenant, his blood,
support me in the whelming flood;
when all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.
When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found:
dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
What a grand old hymn that still rings true today.
Consider – Live your life so the devil will be glad when you’re gone.
