Have you ever thought about what you hope for? It’s interesting to realize that it takes faith to hope for that because we haven’t seen that hope come to pass yet. We have to wait and see, yet we still hope with a faith that what we hope for will come about. Otherwise, why hope at all? If we have no faith that something will occur why hope for it?

Thus, hope and faith are woven together. This is even more so when it comes to our spiritual hopes. We look forward to an immortal life in eternity; this is our hope. But the world wants us to believe that such hope is a pipedream. Why? because they haven’t put their faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ. Yet without this faith, they can’t conceive of such a hope. Nonetheless, Paul talks about this hope in his letter to the Romans: “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. . .” (Rom 5:5a). The writer of the Hebrews notes, “this hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. . .” (Heb. 6:19a). So, when everything around us seems to be shifting out of control, we can hold onto the hope of our faith.

Our triune God—Father, Son & Holy Spirit—makes His presence known at these times if we will focus our eyes on Him. It’s a choice and takes action on our part, sometimes just holding on for dear life. But this anchor is solid! The challenge then becomes will I give, “all praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by His great mercy that we have been born again, again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. . .” (1 Peter 1: 3)? This very hope combined with faith is the hope we celebrate at Christmas, and it strengthens us as we wait for Jesus’ return.

Will you take on this challenge to have a hope strengthened by faith no matter the hard times you may face in this life? Then you can say with the Psalmist, “I will put my hope in God!” (Ps. 42:5).