1 Thessalonians 1:3 (NLT): “As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

There’s a difference between the hope the world offers and the supernatural hope the Word of God speaks about. The word hope means an earnest expectation. Romans 5:5 explains this hope as one that “never disappoints or deludes or shames us”. 1 Corinthians 13:7 (AMPC) says the kind of hope that comes from God is “fadeless under all circumstances”. 2 Corinthians 1:10 (AMPC) says hope is a “joyful, confident expectation”. The key to making the Word-of-God hope so powerful is that it’s rooted in faith! Faith is based on the solid truth of God’s Word. So this hope is founded on a sure thing – not a whimsical wish, like the hope the world offers. Romans 4:18 shows how this hope caused Abraham to be fully persuaded that God would do exactly what He had promised him. Even when there was little evidence supporting the possibility of him becoming a father, let alone a father of nations, his hope never faded because of what it was founded upon – God’s Word. When your hope is founded on the truth of God’s promises, you can have that same enduring, joyful expectation of that promise becoming yours – right to the point of it being a manifest reality.