Hope for What is Unseen

"But hope that is seen is no hope at all." (Rom 8:24)

Hope is an anticipation for something not present. When one hopes for something or someone, he or she looks forward to its appearance with a sense of desire and a knowledge that the object of that desire will manifest itself as reality someday. One would not hope for an illness or financial ruin, neither would one hope that the world would someday be found to be flat.

"Therefore (in light of our eventual resurrection), my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves freely to the work of the Lord, because you KNOW that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Cor 15:38) Paul says, because we have hope in our certain resurrection we KNOW that our labor (obedience) to the Lord is not wasted time. When one has hope, there is excitement in obedience. Christians should be eager to serve God, to give him glory and to help gather souls unto Him, because of the anticipation of spending eternity worshipping God in a New Heaven and New Earth! What freedom!

Our hope, therefore, lies in what we presently cannot see. It is only by our faith in a (physically)unseen world by the promises of a (physically) unseen God, that we have true freedom. Because we hope, we can experience freedom from what held us captive (drugs, alcohol, sexual immorality, etc) before we put our trust in the redemptive power of the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

If I was addicted to pornography yesterday and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour today, I would be free from this addiction immediately if I had enough faith in Christ's redeeming power. But, because our faith is weak and our hope still lies in the pleasure we feel in the physically present pornographic material we will continue to struggle in the chains of that addiction. UNTIL we have faith to trust that Jesus Christ died to free us from this addiction, we will return to it even though we profess to be Christ followers. How often has this been the downfall of so many believers?!

No, we must allow the hope of a broken addiction to permeate our spirit and resist the subject of our physical desire as we are filled with the stronger desire to be obedient to the Father. As we practice that faith (hope) daily, trusting in the unseen power of a resurrected Jesus, we will slowly be separated from the spirit of (lust, greed, drunkenness, etc) that wants to draw us back into bondage. Unfortunately, we of little faith, must undergo a process of learning how to hope for the unseen before we allow ourselves to live in freedom. Therefore, as our faith grows, so does our ability to trust God and be obedient to his commands and his calling on our lives.

My prayer. By faith Lord, we can be healed not because of our strength but by the stripes received by your Son at the hands of a sinful and fallen world. Because of your love for us you healed us from sin and death. Father, you are the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not (the unseen) as though they were. You give sight to the blind and restore hearing to the deaf. You save us from the chains of addiction and use us to redeem the lost. What an awesome God we serve! Thank you for loving us so much that your would not leave us to die in our own sinfulness. I love you Lord and give you thanks and praise. In the Name above all names I pray, Amen!