Proverbs 23:18 Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
Everything is going to be all right.” These are some of the sweetest words of comfort that any of us can hear. In times of suffering and sadness, our grandparents, parents, teachers, and friends will often try to give us hope by telling us that everything is going to be OK. I have found this to be the way that both believers and unbelievers strive to comfort each other and give hope amid the pain and sorrow that touches every one of us in this fallen world.
The unbelieving world desperately wants to give reassurance that everything will be OK in the end, that everything will eventually work out for good, and that whatever doesn’t kill us will make us stronger. For the unbelieving world, however, being apart from Christ, such hope is vain. Not everything is going to be all right in the end for those who do not know Christ. But for those of us who have been rescued from God’s wrath and redeemed by God’s grace, everything is not just going to be OK; one day everything is going to be perfect. Nevertheless, we must never forget that in this world of sin, sadness, and suffering, not everything will work out the way that we want. This is why in hard times and in good times, we do well to study Scripture and the stories of God’s people throughout history to remind us of God’s unwavering faithfulness, sovereign providence, and abounding loving-kindness. Christian hope is not a hope that everything will work out in this life; rather, it is hope that God will make everything work out for our ultimate good and His glory. Hope is not wishful thinking; it is confident expectation. Hope is not the absence of sadness; it is the presence of the Holy Spirit. Hope is not a feeling; it is a mindset fixed on God that informs our feelings. Hope is trusting God because of who He is and what He has done as we await the fulfillment of all His promises now and throughout eternity.
People will continue to disappoint us, our loved ones will suffer and die, Satan will attack us, and we will struggle against our flesh. In those dark times when we are tempted to feel hopeless, we must preach to ourselves just as the psalmist did: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (Ps. 42:5–6). We hope not because of our circumstances but because of Christ—His divine person, sinless life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection. Now, as we eagerly await His return, we wait with confident expectation before His face, coram Deo, remembering that one day when we see Him face-to-face, there will no longer be any need for hope. Then our hope will be completely fulfilled, and everything will be all right forever.
Dr. Burk Parsons is editor of Tabletalk magazine and senior pastor of Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Fla. He is co translator and coeditor of A Little Book on the Christian Life by John Calvin. He is on X at @BurkParsons.
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