Hope is defined as “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” Well, all of us are hoping for something, because all of us want something to happen. Right? But let’s be honest, our hopes do change over time, depending on our stage of life. As a senior in high school we hope to get into college. As a freshman in college, we hope to be able to acclimate to a life of independence and get good grades. As a senior, we hope to graduate and get the right job where we can make an impact and make a great salary. We hope to move to the right city and live in the right neighborhood. And of course, along the way, we hope to find the right person and start a family. So hope is something that lives in all of us…whatever stage of life.
But have you ever thought about what God hopes for you? Well, Scripture tells us he has big plans for you.
“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” –Jeremiah 29:11
Did you catch that? Please don’t miss this; the God of the universe has huge hopes and dreams for you and your future!
Now that’s an amazing promise and plan, but will God pull it off? Can God pull it off? Can we really depend on him and his plans, hopes and dreams for our lives? Do you really believe that? Well I do! I believe you can trust God. Hebrews 10:23 tells us that God can be trusted: “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.” And looking back at Psalms, David says that God’s promises, “are backed by the all the honor of [his] name” (Psalm 138:2). God is putting his full weight behind his promises. He is not messing around! His hopes and desires for you are higher and better than yours.
I really believe he can and will fulfill his promise to prosper each and every one of us and to give us a hope and a future that are beyond what we can hope for or imagine. I encourage you to dream big and live life with confident expectation, knowing that your hopes are important to God. But also remember that they pale in comparison to what he has in store for you! Jesus came to give us real life, an abundant life, full to overflowing with joy and peace. And never forget God has big dreams and big hopes for you! That’s his promise, and he is a promise keeper!
Written by Bob Day, Point University Trustee and President of Covenant Company