Amid the pandemic that has consumed the world, it is important to hold on to the faith we have in Jesus and the hope we have in Jesus. We should be promoting and experiencing hope over all the hype and hysteria the pandemic has caused. We are going to look at some verses about hope and provide some commentary on them. My hope is that you will be encouraged by these verses and you will share them with others to bring peace to our nation and to the world. 

Isaiah 40:31

“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

This is one of my favorite verses about hope. This verse is about waiting for the Lord and because we wait we will renew our strength when all seems lost and hopeless. We will be lifted up with wings like eagles and we will never grow tired of hoping for what is to come, Jesus. Our hope is not in things of the world that we constantly run after and make us tired because we can truly never reach it. When we hope in the Lord, our strength is renewed and we will never grow weary, no matter the circumstance. 

Hebrews 9:28

“So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

This is what our hope is all about. Christ came some 2,000 years ago to take away our sins for good, nailing them to the cross, never to be heard of again. Then he resurrected, securing our salvation, and ascended into heaven. This verse promises that Jesus will come again but this time with a different agenda. He will come again not to deal with sin, but to save us who are waiting like we just talked about in Isaiah 40:31. Our hope is in the second coming of Christ. We know Jesus will come again, get rid of evil once and for all, and grant those who believe eternal life. That is where our hope is placed and that is where our hope should be. If our hope is here, then a pandemic shall have no hold on us, it should not create fear within a community of believers who hold on to this truth. Jesus is coming, and he will save us. 

Psalm 46:1-3

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

One of my favorite psalms of hope and fear. Right now in our world, fear has a strong grip. Hysteria races across the globe. Schools, business, and global systems are shutting down because of fear of this virus. Nobody knows what will happen, and nobody knows when it will end. There is panic and fear and this verse describes that. The author here is describing a devastation like no other. The earth is giving way and crumbling. The mountains are falling into the sea and the oceans and seas are stirring with violence. The world around the psalmist is falling apart, much like our world is right now. The psalmist is describing a situation that just seems hopeless, nothing is standing, everything is falling and failing and chaos has ensued. However, right at the beginning, the psalmist gives his hope. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble”. God is the one we hope in and take refuge in. He is the help we need when trouble arises. Even in a situation like the author describes when the world is falling apart, God is the help in that situation. God has always been and always will be that refuge, that strength, that help when trouble comes. Even in today’s situation, when chaos has ensued, God is the help and he is the refuge we should hope and abide in. 

Romans 5:5

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

There is always this belief, this doubt that what if God doesn’t help us? What if help never comes? What if God doesn’t care? Satan puts these doubts into our minds to drive us back into fear and panic amidst the storm. Our hope in Jesus Christ, as Paul says, will never put us to shame. We will never be ashamed because of our hope and our hope does not fail. Paul says that hope will not put us to shame because God’s love has been given to us. God’s love is now a part of us through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. We will not be put to shame because we have the proof of that hope living within us right now, the Holy Spirit. 

No matter where you are in the world, or what your situation might be. I encourage you to not give in to the panic. Instead, be grounded in your faith and your hope to show the world what it really looks like to have the Spirit living in you and to have Jesus as your hope. We are to be a light to the world (Matthew 5:14) not more darkness. Take the hope you have in Jesus and show it to the world, so that through Jesus, they may find the peace and hope they are looking for to make it through the storm.