To hope is to want something to happen or want it to be true, or to think it could happen or be true. It is difficult to live without hope; matter of fact, without hope, the will to live dims quickly.

There are many hopeless situations. One such situation was in the life of the apostle Paul, recorded in the New Testament book of Acts, chapter 27. Paul was on a ship in the Mediterranean Sea on a trip to Rome. The ship was caught in a monstrous storm. The situation was so bad that the writer of Acts says, in verse 20, “Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.” It took a lot for them to give up hope, but they became hopeless. In the midst of that, God intervened and gave a message to Paul and hope immediately revived (Acts 27:21-25).

The Old Testament patriarch Abraham, called the “father of faith” was given a promise by God that he would have a son and, through this son, a nation would develop and great blessing would ensue. Abraham was an old man and his wife was an old woman. The situation for natural conception and child birth was humanly hopeless. Abraham persisted in faith. We are told in Paul’s epistle to the Romans, chapter 4, verse 18, that Abraham, “contrary to hope, in hope believed.” Against all odds, even against hope, Abraham had hope. That kind of hope makes survivors of us all.

There are many seemingly “hopeless’ situations. There is terminal illness; there are disastrously oppressive movements that look impossible to ever change. When you reach the end of human resources, you must look beyond human possibilities to find hope.

In the New Testament book of Hebrews, chapter 6, the people were in very difficult circumstances. The writer of Hebrews reminded them of God’s promise to Abraham and the way God miraculously fulfilled that promise. In verses 18-20, we see the basis of our hope. First, we are told that, “it is impossible for God to lie” and, in verse 20, because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and His promise of eternal life to all who believe, we have hope. In verse 19, this hope is called the “anchor of our soul.”

Nothing can take that hope away —“neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come . . . shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

Let us all have hope in the right person.

Rev. Dan Puckett is with Life Action Ministries