Hold On To Hope

Hope: A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

The Purpose of the Process

Anything involving significant personal growth, liberation from the past, or the building of a dream will always take time. God makes hope an essential requirement as He develops your character and frees you from toxic traits or people that do not serve your future purpose.

He is concerned with the generations that will follow you. If your life's work only benefits you, there is a problem. What you do should impact, inspire, and bring liberation to others long after your time on earth is finished. To see these things come to pass, the key ingredient is HOPE.

Hebrews 6:10-15 (NIV)

"God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, 'I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.' And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised."

The Three Phases of Hope

• Fresh Hope: Entering a new season with a sense of "newness." In this stage, direction, movement, and conviction follow the freshness of the promise.

• Weary Hope: You have been believing in a promise for a long time and exhaustion is setting in. You are considering giving up, but you are actually on the edge of a breakthrough.

• Lost Hope: Due to the weight of time and worldly circumstances, you no longer see how the dream can come to pass. You have reached a place of disbelief.

The Timeline of Abraham and Sarah

The journey of Abraham and Sarah illustrates how hope is tested over decades:

• The Initial Promise (Genesis 12:1-7): God promises to make Abraham a great nation.

• The Specific Promise (Genesis 15:2-6): Abraham is 75 and Sarah is 65 when God promises them a child.

• The 10-Year Mark (Genesis 16:1-3): After a decade of waiting, hope is lost. They turn to their own strength as Sarah gives Hagar to Abraham to bear Ishmael. Abraham is now 85.

• The 24-Year Mark (Genesis 17:15-19): Abraham is 99 and Sarah is 89. When God reiterates the promise, Abraham responds with disbelief.

• The Point of Laughter (Genesis 18:9-15): Sarah laughs at the idea of the promise, showing hope has been replaced by cynicism.

• The Fulfillment (Genesis 21:1-3): Abraham is 100 and Sarah is 90. The promise is finally fulfilled 25 years after it was first made.

• The Warning (Genesis 21:9-14): We see that losing hope often leads to disobedience, which ultimately leads to distress.

The Weight of History

History proves that monumental change requires immense endurance, as seen in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 13-year struggle to dismantle legal segregation and secure the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. Similarly, Nelson Mandela endured 27 years in prison to eventually abolish South Africa’s apartheid system after a 46-year fight, while Mahatma Gandhi led a 27-year campaign to liberate India from British rule. These legacies prove that holding onto hope through decades of persecution can eventually bring about a liberation that impacts the world for generations.

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Hebrews 6:17-20 (NIV)

"Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf."

Joshua Wilchcombe

Shooters HQ Discipleship Leader