Honestly, it can be really hard to hope in God at times.
We live in an evil, uncertain, hard world.
Who doesn’t face personal uncertainty? You lose a job or retire. Your home needs maintenance – where’s the money going to come from? And if you have children or grandchildren, you always carry each of them in your heart. So how do we not struggle with fear of the future?
How can we find hope in God?
We have an enemy who wants to rob us of hope, but God assures us in his word we have a bright future.
God gives us incredible promises to give us hope for the future, both in this life and especially the next. Here are 10…
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1. Hope In God Because He Has Good Plans For You
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 (Jeremiah 29:11)
God has specific wonderful plans for each of his children. He has a plan for you, and it is a plan for good. Plans for your good. Plans for your joy. Plans to give you a future and a hope.
And no one can thwart those plans. They are according to His purpose, and nothing in heaven or on earth can stop God’s purpose. I don’t know how or when God will work out his plans for me, but I know he will. And his timing will be perfect.
You can hope in God because he has promised you that he will do good to you in the future. Hope in God because, unlike your plans, his good plans can’t be stopped or thwarted.
You serve the God of hope, and your hope is not in this life alone. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, you also have the hope of eternal life. God’s good plans for you are for today, tomorrow, and eternal life!
2. Hope In The Lord Because You’ll See His Goodness
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living!
Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD! (Psalm 27:13-14)
God promises believers will see his goodness in this life. You certainly will see his goodness in heaven but you’ll see it here as well.
You’ll see God answer prayers and meet needs. You will experience his joy. You’ll see him work in your kids.
Don’t give up! Keep hoping and waiting for the Lord’s perfect timing. Be strong and take courage in your heart. Your hope won’t be disappointed. You do have hope for the future! Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with joy and peace as you trust God to show His goodness to you.
You can hope in God because he has promised that you will see his goodness in the land of the living, and that’s a promise he WILL fulfill.
3. Hope In Jesus Christ Because Of His Abundant Goodness
Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind! (Psalm 31:19)
God doesn’t have just a few sparse blessings, but ABUNDANT goodness STORED UP for you, and he waits for his perfect timing to shower it on you. You can’t even imagine all the blessings God has in store for you.
If you have taken refuge in God, then you can be absolutely sure that God will pour out his abundant goodness upon you. You might not see it at the moment, but it will indeed come.
Hope in God because he has promised to pour out his abundant, rich blessings on you.
4. Hope In The Lord Because He Will Fulfill His Purpose For You
The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. (Psalm 138:8)
Have you ever wondered what your purpose in life is? Sometimes I wonder if I might be missing God’s will for my life. But God promises that HE has a purpose for my life and HE will fulfill it! This gives me great hope!
You can have great hope in God as well. You can’t miss God’s will for your life. He absolutely will fulfill his purpose for you. Not even you can keep God from bringing to pass his good, rich, blessing-filled plans.
5. Hope In God Because He Will Complete What He Started
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)
God finishes what he starts. When God saved you he began an incredibly good work in you – to transform you into the likeness of Christ.
Everything you go through, good and bad, is controlled by his sovereign hand to conform you to Christ. He won’t fail. There won’t be any “unfinished” believer in heaven. God works in your life every day and at “the day of Jesus Christ” you will be like him.
Doesn’t that encourage you? You have every reason to hope in God. If God has started a good, powerful work in you, then he certainly will bring it completion.
6. Hope In Christ Jesus Because He Will Establish Your Plans
Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established. (Proverbs 16:3)
Maybe you don’t know where you’re going in life. But if you seek the Lord, you have a sure hope he will establish your plans as he has promised. Let’s be honest: there are many times when you can’t bring your own plans to pass.
But God isn’t like that. If you commit your work to the Lord, he will establish your plans. He will cause your plans to align with his plans, and then he will bring those plans to pass.
You can hope in God because he is the one who will bring your plans to pass.
7. Hope In God Because He Will Lead You
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. (Psalm 32:8)
God himself, the One who controls all things, the God of infinite wisdom, will PERSONALLY counsel you with his eye upon you. Wow, who could hope for more than that!
Ask God to instruct you and teach you and show you how to live a life that pleases him, and he will. He will lead you in the way to go. He will instruct you, teach you, guide you, and counsel you. Even though the way forward may seem unclear at the moment, God will be the one who leads you.
You can hope in God because he is faithful and will lead you and instruct you.
8. Hope In God Because Your Path Grows Brighter Each Day
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. (Proverbs 4:18)
Maybe your path is dark right now, but if you keep seeking the Lord, he will make your path brighter and brighter. When Jesus first saved me, I was single and had no idea what I wanted to do in life.
I had no idea God would give me the most wonderful wife or call me to be a pastor. Couldn’t have imagined the children or grandchildren he would bless us with. But as I sought to follow Jesus he lit my path. If you believe in Jesus, your future is bright. Your path will shine brighter and brighter until the full day when Jesus returns.
Hope in God because he has promised a bright future for you.
9. Hope In God Because You Are His Workmanship
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
Whenever I’m tempted to think I might miss God’s will for my life, this verse reminds me he created good works for me to walk before he created the universe. Before he saved me. He desires me to walk in these works even more than I do. He has prepared them already and will make sure I don’t miss them.
Do you believe that God has prepared good works for you to walk in? He most certainly has, and he will guide you into those good works. You are his workmanship, and every day he is making you more and more like Jesus Christ. Nothing can stop him from completing that work.
You can hope in God because you are his workmanship.
10. Hope In God Because All Things Work Together For Good
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Every believer suffers various kinds trials. Life’s not easy. But God works even the sad, hard and painful things together for our good. And you have a hope that someday in heaven you’ll see how your momentary light afflictions produced an eternal weight of glory far beyond comparison.
Bible Verses About Hope
There are so many wonderful Bible verses about hope to encourage you and strengthen you:
Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Romans 15:13 – 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.
Romans 5:1 – Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Deuteronomy 31:6 – Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.
Psalm 39:7 – And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.
1 Timothy 6:17 – As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
Psalm 71:5 – For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
Mark 9:23 – And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
Psalm 43:5 – Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Psalm 119:114 – You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.
Psalm 33:18 – Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,
Job 5:15-16 – He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful. So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
Psalm 130:5 – I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
Psalm 119:81 – My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.
Psalm 9:18 – For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
2 Corinthians 3:12-14 – Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.
Psalm 146:5 – Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
Psalm 42:11 – Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Titus 1:1-2 – Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began
1 Thessalonians 1:3 – Remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:13 – Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Trust In God’s Unfailing Love
So don’t give up hope. Keep asking God to pour out his abundant goodness on you.
Keep asking him to guide and instruct and show you the way you should go. Keep looking for his goodness. Keep hoping in the living God. I believe you will see God’s goodness in this life and a millionfold in heaven.
Your hope for the future isn’t based on you. It’s based on who God is and what he has promised.
