What the Bible Says About the Hope of the Lord

The Bible says that Christians should hope in the Lord. What is true hope and what does the Bible say about the hope of the Lord? Learn about the hope the Lord gives believers today.

Have you ever paid attention to where you place your hope on a daily basis? Where we place our hope actually says a lot about us as Christians. The Bible talks a lot about the hope of the Lord and hoping in the Lord, but sometimes it can be difficult to move from knowing about the hope of the Lord to trusting in the hope of the Lord.

Where we place our hope in our day-to-day lives shows us what we are trusting in and what our hearts are really focused on. When we are hoping in people or things other than the Lord, we will find that we are trusting in those things to be our strength instead of the Lord. When we place our hope in the Lord, however, we have peace because we trust that God has everything under control and we know that His way is the best way.

Related: 10 Truths That Empower and Define a Christian

What is the Hope of the Lord?

Having the hope of the Lord means that we can trust God in all things. He gave us ultimate hope through Jesus Christ, and we can hope in Him for all of life. We can trust everything about Him, everything about His salvation, and everything about His plan. Hoping in the Lord means that we trust in His goodness and sovereignty and that we have faith that He will carry us and help us in all things.

8 Bible Verses About Hope

Hope Does Not Put Us to Shame

"Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God... 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." -Romans 5:2,5

Real hope -- the kind of hope that comes from Christ -- does not and will not put us to shame, because it is trustworthy. It will not disappoint us, because God does not make empty promises and He pours His love in our hearts through His Spirit  to show us this hope.

We Abound in Hope

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." -Romans 15:13

When we believe Jesus and trust Him, it brings unshakable joy and peace into our lives. Why? Because we know we have hope! We have joy because we are redeemed and we have peace because we know we have been pardoned. As God fills us with this joy and peace from believing, the Holy Spirit helps us understand how great of a hope we really have.

Christ in Me Is the Hope of Glory

"To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." -Colossians 1:27

At the right time, God chose to reveal to us the great mystery of Salvation through the Son of God. Christ living in us is the hope of glory. Jesus indwells us through the Holy Spirit when we believe in Him, and this is our great hope!

We Have Hope When Our Situation Looks Bleak

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters."    -Romans 8:28-29

When we are suffering or going through a tough situation, we can hope in the promise that God makes to us in these verses. Everything in our lives -- even the most challenging of situations -- will be used by God for our good and His glory. We don't have to wonder about God's control. God is in  control and He works all things for our good!

Our Waiting Is Not Forever

"For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." -Romans 8:24-25

I don't know about you, but I hate waiting for things that I am looking forward to. I am very drawn to instant gratification, and I'd rather not have to practice patience. The Bible tells us to think differently about waiting though.

Our hope is sure -- salvation through Jesus Christ. But we do have to wait to see the glory we've been promised. Waiting for the hope that we have in Christ should produce a longing in our hearts for what's to come, and this should help us cherish the gift that God has given us.

We Have Hope Because We Are Free from the World's Chains

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." -Colossians 3:1-2

As Christians, we are told to set our minds on the things of God instead of earthly things. And while this is a command to obey, it is also a hope that we have because it means that we are not held captive by the things of this world. We are free to focus on the things of God instead of being consumed with the trivial pursuits of this life.

While we are not called to ignore this world and we should be faithful in our endeavors, we have the hope of being free from what the world has to offer. We have a higher calling that is unshakable.

Our Troubles Will Not Last Forever

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." -2 Corinthians 4:17-18

We may have troubles in this world -- scratch that, we will have troubles in this world. Every human will suffer some sort of heartbreak, and then add to that the persecution that could come with being a follower of Jesus and there will certainly be hardship. But Jesus overcame the world and He promises us that our momentary troubles are nothing compared to the glory that is to come in Heaven. This glory will outweigh all of our temporary affliction, and we will see 100% clearly that following Christ was worth it.

We Have a Living Hope that Will Never Spoil or Fade

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials." 1 Peter 1:3-6

In God's great mercy, He has given us a living hope through Jesus. He has made us new and given us an inheritance that will never spoil, perish, or fade. God will shield us and hold us steady until we get to heaven, and we can rejoice in all of this. All of this hope is from our great God!