Secure Hope for an Anxious Future

How you live is determined by your hope of what is to come. Hope keeps us walking forward. As Helen Keller said, “Nothing can be done without hope.”

But what is hope? The biblical definition of hope is different than the colloquial definition. When you say something like, “I sure hope this happens” you frame hope as an uncertainty. Hope means that it sounds great, but it’s unlikely. Biblical hope, on the other hand, is a certainty about something that has not happened yet.

If we limit ourselves to our flimsy definition of hope, we could be left hoping the Cubs win the World Series or hoping we’ll make it to the gas station after on empty for far too long. Both would be pretty fantastic, but you better not bet on them. Far too many people find themselves living in insecurity because their hope is unsure. They’re left waiting on “what ifs.” So many people are drowning in anxiety because they’re not practicing real hope.

Biblical hope offers the exact opposite of anxiety: a secure future. If our future is secure, we have a new perspective on and approach to the present. Instead of using the present to attempt to control an uncertain future, we are free to engage the present. Hope transforms the present.

You’re probably familiar with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Decades later, his words still compel us, still stir us, still call up hope in us—real hope. Dr. King’s envisioned future wasn’t flimsy. It wasn’t based on unwarranted hopes. While living in an uncertain and often violent present, Dr. King drew upon kingdom promises for the future, feeding himself and his ministry on an assured vision of reconciliation, justice, mercy, and love. From that hope-filled foundation, Dr. King declared his dream of a future that could be possible if we lived lives shaped by that secure hope:

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

Dr. King was referencing the future hope of God coming back and bringing the kingdom, full of justice and mercy. He was referencing Isaiah 40.

The book of Isaiah contains some of the most remarkable prophecies about Christ in the Old Testament. Isaiah foretold the mission of John the Baptist, to prepare the way for the Lord and to “make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3). He declared that “every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed” (Isaiah 40:4). Sound familiar?

Later in the chapter, Isaiah brings more hope to his readers. Even though people grow tired and weary, and they stumble and fall, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31). Hope, according to Isaiah, was not just a secure (and strong) future, it was security in a person—the Lord. Our hope is not simply rooted in a future but in a relationship. We can have hope because we know the character and power of the One who holds the future.

In his speech, Dr. King explicitly says, “This is our hope,” and then describes what comes to pass when we have hope in the Lord and not in circumstances: “With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.” Dr. King found hope in the promises and person of Christ. Notice though, Dr. King does talk about circumstances. His biblical hope (confidence in what will come) informs his hopes (desires for the future), which inform his actions in the present. Dr. King’s hopes and dreams, therefore, are not merely inspirational, they’re biblical. While hope may not immediately alter our circumstances, having hope alters us.

And with a biblical foundation of hope, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreams:

We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and the Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no . . . we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

There he goes again, referencing Scripture, Amos 5:24 this time: “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” Dr. King gets specific with what the future could look like when his secure hope breaks into his broken context. We can do the same. This is the power of hope.

God’s promise for reconciliation broke into Dr. King’s dreams, and the result was a specific picture of what was possible for tomorrow.

Let me ask you: How might these promises break into the messy realities you’re facing today? Does God’s promise of a future without fear invade your anxiety? How might God’s promise of reconciliation invade your broken relationships? I can tell you this, if you let Him, God’s promises for the future can invade your dreams and paint pictures of purpose for your life. You, too, can have a dream.

Megan Fate Marshman loves God and His church. She is a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, speaks to audiences internationally, leads the women’s ministry at Arbor Road Church, and serves as director of women’s ministries at Hume Lake Christian Camps. Her newest book, Meant for Good, releases in August. She currently lives in southern California with her family. You can also find out more about Megan by visiting meganfate.com or by following her on Instagram @meganfate.

Photograph © Lina Trochez, used with permission