Weekly Devotional: Finding Hope in the New Year
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Grand Canyon University. Any sources cited were accurate as of the publish date.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” – Hebrews 11:1
In the depth of our despair, what gets us through? How do we overcome adversity in our lives? For Christians, we may say we trust that God’s got it all planned out, which is true, but we can also rest in the promises God makes.
God promises He is good and promises us salvation if we believe in Him and the sacrifice He made at the cross. We can have faith in God to continue being who He says He is time and time again. This gives us hope that He will fulfill these promises in the future.
This hope is not like our traditional definition of hope. We may hope we got an A on a test or hope we get a good parking spot in the parking garage, but we are still unsure. Our hope in God is not like that, because it is backed with faith.
We might hope to go to heaven when we die, but this is not an uncertainty. Our faith in Christ gives us the ability to look forward in hopeful anticipation for what God has in store for us.
The world may claim that our hope in God as Savior and deliverer is foolish, but the Bible tells us otherwise. Romans 5:5 says that “Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
We are not put to shame because of our hope. We have God’s love and sacrifice as a down payment. He already paid the price and we can be certain of it.
This not only gives us peace, but it also allows us to be brave. In 2 Corinthians 3:12, Paul writes, “Therefore since we have such a hope, we are very bold.” Our hope gives us the confidence we need to step out in faith.
God shows us His nature and His love time and time again, giving us more and more certainty of the hope we have. So when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances, we have hope that God is working for our good and for His glory.
Grand Canyon University would like to wish you a Happy New Year! To learn more about GCU’s foundation of faith visit our website or use the request more information button on the top of the page.
