By: Francis Judge
Many of us have already taken a fast-paced flight into 2024 hoping that it will somehow be different from last year and take a different turn from its predecessor. At heart, we are romantic optimists! But, there is a reason to have hope that this year will see a breakthrough, if we ground our hopes firmly and fully in the promises of God.
There are many things that we can put our hope in, not just the promises of God. However, we’re not always very thorough at evaluating whether something provides a real basis for hoping in it. Often circumstances and feelings end up being the determining factors.
There are some things which we place our hope in that don’t seem to be very significant; such as technology. Ah, you may think, technology is a sure bet! But it’s amazing how quickly we forget the technologies that didn’t work out, or the technologies that won in a battle that weren’t the best but were better marketed! The real challenge with hoping in technology actually isn’t with any specific technology but with the belief that it frees us from trusting in previous things that were done and had proved to work – the tyrany of the “new”. This idea has been parodied in many movies, which depict when technology goes wrong or has been hijacked by others for nefarious purposes.
When we look at hope in the Scriptures – for instance the ubiquitous Jeremiah 29:11 – we find that biblical hope is laid on the foundation of the promises of God. So, biblical hope (in the promises of God) becomes the groundwork for biblical faith. Because, after all, biblical faith is always “in” God and, therefore, in His promises. The same way, His promises are always about the fulfilment of his plan, which is always about His glory and splendour, which is always, ultimately, for our best.
But, there can be a problem. So often people skip straight to faith, bypassing hope. “Well”, you may say to me, “without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Heb 11:6). Very true, but again I would like to remind us that biblical faith is always “in” God. That is, in his character and word; and therefore, His promises. Faith detached from hope in God and His promises is in danger of egocentrism and selfishness, and can easily become faith in ourselves, or “faith in faith”!
So, what are the promises that lead me to say that I believe that 2024 will be a year of hope and breakthrough? It’s not, primarily, because last year was so tough – that would ground our hope in circumstances rather than the eternal goodness and plan of God. My hope is in the fact that last year was a year of sowing (Cf. Gal 6:7) and the prophetic words and pictures that have been coming to us so far this year are full of the promise of a change of season (from sowing to reaping, Cf. John 4:37 and 1 Cor 3:6).
It can be hard to grasp a promise like this – even though this is exactly what faith is all about, trusting in God when there is no empirical evidence yet – but having this hope does not automatically mean that a breakthrough is guaranteed. What! Well, faith is what activates the promise of God in our lives; It is when we receive the promise with hope, and the Holy Spirit stirs us to engage our faith for in that it is activated.
It is the Holy Spirit who enlivens (or, quickens) the word that comes to us, stirring us that the time is now to believe. Of course, having said this, our faith does not twist the arm of God (so to speak), we can only receive what God is giving. But, after the Holy Spirit has focused us on the promises of God and stirred up our hope in them, our faith can take hold of them, and God can make them ours. Not the same as “name it and claim it” as all the emphasis is on the Lord, His plan and will, and His promises.
A last thing to recognise is that we have to be willing and active partners with God to see His promises bear fruit. Firstly in what it is that we hope for, and then, in walking it out by faith. Jesus, our perfect example, tells us that he was always about his Father’s business (Lk 2:39) and was only doing what he saw the Father doing (Jn 5:19). This second scripture really goes to the heart of the point in the previous paragraph: God is only committed to His will and the blessing we receive is when we embrace His will His way (not to mention His timing too!). This is what being a proactive, willing partner with God looks like.