What the Bible says about
hope
Hope in the Bible is not the sense that things will work out. It is confidence in a person who made a promise, which changes everything: optimism depends on how the facts are trending, hope depends on who did the promising. That is why it appears most forcefully in the books written among ruins.
“Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.””
Lamentations 3:22-24 · read the chapter →
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13 · read the chapter →
“Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”
Romans 5:3-5 · read the chapter →
“Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1 · read the chapter →
“But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31 · read the chapter →
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
1 Peter 1:3 · read the chapter →
Written at the worst moment
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed; his compassions are new every morning" (Lamentations 3:22-23). The book is called Lamentations and describes Jerusalem destroyed. The line most printed on encouragement cards was born inside a ruined city.
The road to it
Romans 5:3-5 gives a sequence nobody would choose: suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. Biblical hope is the end of a hard process, not its comfortable beginning.
Hope has content
Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as "confidence in what we hope for," and 1 Peter 1:3 anchors Christian hope in the resurrection of Jesus. It is not hoping in general. It is hoping for something specific, from someone specific.
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