“But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” – Romans 8:25
Hope is the unseen benefit we long for. It drives us. We walk by faith because of it. Hope is powerful—it defines our realities. They may be unrealistic, indescribable and unobtainable. But nevertheless, our actions in faith are a function of our hope. Most of us likely eat, work, exercise, spend our money, worship, love and rest because of it. You define a man’s hope, you can predict his actions. And conversely, you can see a man’s hope by his behaviors.
The thing we hope for is a noun, as in the Blessed Hope. But it is also a verb as in our verse: “We hope for what we do not see.”
What we hope in determines what we hope for. I.e. we hope in God of the scriptures because of the goodness and integrity of His character and the promises He holds for us. He then defines in our lives what we hope for. We hope for the return of Christ, a new body, salvation, heaven. These things were defined in us as our hope in Him was developed, i.e., as our minds are renewed toward a deeper understanding of God, so our eternal hope is developed.
For what do we wait? We wait for that which we hope. We wait because we hope. And the object or power of our wait determines the validity of our waiting.
Waiting can be a challenge. It requires patience and trust in the things we don’t see or control. But it becomes simple when we accept that His timing of delivering that which we hope for is fully under His unfailing control. Because of this, we wait on Him, not on the thing hoped for.
So we continue to wait because we trust Him. We hope for justice so we wait on Him. We hope for His return so we wait in Him. So it is with peace, prosperity, health, His presence. His direction. Results. Payday. The solidity of relationships. We hope for these things–with understanding that God is our source object and therefore in reality, we wait in Him.
We wait and walk by faith because we cannot be certain of our hope coming to fruition. Our hope is future and unseen, and although convinced and convicted, we cannot be certain.
Therefore, because we are not certain, waiting is not about inaction.
Our Romans 8:25 verse says waiting takes perseverance. The word perseverance is the same word in Romans 5:3. It means to stay under the pressure.
Waiting is the action of living by faith, practicing perseverance when fueled by the verb, hoping. You cannot grunt your way; Successful waiting is powered by hope. The more valid the object of my hope, the stronger the resolve to wait in perseverance.
God says to Habakkuk 1:5: “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days—You would not believe if you were told.”
Habakkuk had little idea of what God could be doing. He couldn’t see it. He was eager for it. He had to walk by faith and wait.
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