“My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less”

I’m quickly growing in the belief that hope is one of the most powerful forces on the planet. I’m not sure if I made this up or if I stole/adapted it from someone else, but “if you want to destroy a person, destroy their hope.”

Our main focus for this Sunday is on praying that God would open our ears to hear from Him. We need to hear many things: direction to accomplish His will, and truth that comes from His word to name a few. But one thing I think we often overlook is our need to have our ears opened to hear His promises. It’s through His promises that we receive true hope.

Our closing hymn this Sunday opens with, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” The hymn goes on to speak about dark times, when it’s hard to feel God with us, reminding us that He is our “anchor in the storm,” and that we trust His promises to “support us in the whelming flood.”

I’m reminded of the words in 1 Corinthians 1:9-10: 

“Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will deliver us again.”

We tend to think we can control our outcomes through our own strength. But our strength is limited, our knowledge is limited, and our understanding is limited. When we fail, we often lose hope. But this passage in 1 Corinthians reminds us that even when we feel like we’ve received a “death sentence,” we shouldn’t lose heart. Instead, we should remind ourselves of the hope we have in Christ.

Are you struggling with hope this week? Take some time in silence to pray read some of the verses below and ask God to remind you of and help you believe in His promises.

Matthew 11:28-29
Isaiah 26:3
Deuteronomy 31:8
Psalm 37:23-24
2 Corinthians 12:9
Isaiah 40:31
Isaiah 40:29