Learning Center - Women's Bible Studies

Hope
by Rev. Tina McGehee

To have hope, one needs a relationship with God. Hope is an extraordinary spiritual grace that God gives us to control our fears and our emotions. Hope is the confident expectation that rests on God’s promises. It is an extension of faith. In other words, faith is the possession of God’s grace but hope is the confidence in God’s grace for a future triumph. I like what Hebrews 6:19 says “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.” In other words, it brings you right into the presence of God.

There is a word in Hebrew that I love which is called chazaq. It means strong or strengthened and did you know that the words strengthened and strong are in the Old Testament over 300 times? It was and continues to be a powerful word. The word chazaq literally means “strengthened by Yahweh.” Yahweh is the Lord’s Holiest name and this ties into the scripture above that says it enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, into God’s Holy Presence. So in other words when you look at this further, you understand then that as hope anchors your soul, you are being strengthened in your faith by God, our Father. Wow! That is powerful isn’t it?

A good example of this is when God spoke to Joshua as they were about to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. God said “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 Joshua was terrified of the calling God placed upon him but hearing God’s promise gave him hope. It strengthened him and look at what he did: He led his people into the Promised Land; something Moses couldn’t do. 

The same goes for each one of us. It is during our trails or as I like to call them, our little steps in the ladder of life that brings us fear, anxiety and frustration. But, when we stop, regain our thoughts and begin to talk to God about these things, something happens We find we now have hope and with hope comes strength to continue, and faith in the knowledge that things will be okay.

When Joshua was on his deathbed, he reminded Israel about the hope of God’s promises that were fulfilled!  “Behold this day, I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.” Joshua 23:14

The same applies to us. When you seek the Lord, He will be there. He will not fail you. Some of you may say “God is not there for me.” Really? Why is that? Have you gotten down on your knees and talked to Him? Have you truly talked to Him? Are you angry with Him? Do you yell at Him? Have you ever asked Him how He really feels about you? Look at what He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11-14 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you says the Lord.” T hose last two phrases are powerful – let’s talk about it.

“when you search for Me with all your heart, I will be found by you”. Are you searching with all your heart? If so, He will be found by you. Those words bring hope, comfort and peace to know God is right there. He wants the best for us. We just have to rely on Him.

When we rely on God, we see our dreams come true and we are blessed. I like what Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true, there is life and joy.” How true!  When your dreams come true, aren’t you happy? Sure you are, we all are.

That tells us that there are no hopeless situations in life, only people who have grown hopeless about them. I found a quote from an unknown author that sums it up “When the world says “Give it up”, Hope whispers, try it one more time.””

The Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation has a quote that tells it like it is: “We don’t need hair, we don’t need breasts, we need hope.”  

Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Therefore, as Christians, our mandate is to bring a message of hope to the hurting.

I’ve had many situations in the past where I felt depressed or anxious but one in particular stands out where I felt utterly hopeless. I was in the hospital, scared, hurting and defeated My face and my tongue were numb; my head hurt, the headache was the worst one I ever had. I was so scared and yet I was trying to be tough and calm for my husband. We were newlyweds of three months when this happened. I saw panic all over his face and I knew I had to be strong for him. The only thing was, I wanted to cry and give up when the doctor came into the room and diagnosed me with a brain tumor. I felt the Holy Spirit tell me “this isn’t from God. This is from the devil.  He knows what God has planned for you and he wants to destroy you.” Right then, I knew what I had to do: I had to give it to God through prayer.

I remembered God’s promises: “when you search for Me with all your heart, I will be found by you” and I also knew “greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.” I also knew that the power of prayer and the Blood of Jesus could crush the enemy. Immediately, my husband and I got on the phone and started calling all of our prayer warrior friends and asked them to pray for me. During this time of uncertainty, God revealed Himself to me many times. An acquaintance called me from North Carolina to say she felt led to read a scripture to me. It was Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. I am going to read these words to you:

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

The woman who called me didn’t know that those words were words I’ve turned to all of my adult life during times of crisis. But guess what? God knew and through the Holy Spirit, sent those words to me through this woman. When I heard her reading those scriptures, immediately, that gave me hope. Hope, when I was in the middle of despair. Hope that things would be all right. Hope that God was with me, never would he forsake me, and that my friends, brought along strength and comfort.

Four days, three MRIs, and five doctors later, they all walked into my room one-by-one to tell me that my brain tumor had disappeared. All of them were in shock. One said “I just don’t understand it. It was there on the CAT scan but it is gone now.” Well, I understood – God removed that brain tumor because I went to Him with my whole heart and I asked Him for help. I reminded Him of the plans He had for me and I wanted those plans and I knew those plans didn’t include a brain tumor. So what happened? He sent that tumor back to Hell where it came from!  Praise God!

Now, I don’t know what your circumstances are but I can tell you this, that without hope my husband and I never would have been able to handle that situation. As a person reading this message, please understand one thing: Many of you are going through difficult times right now.  Some of you don’t know what to do, where to turn. My answer is – turn to God. He will not forsake you. He will give you hope and with hope comes peace and strength; chazaq - the strengthening by Yahweh (God) upon us.

I hope this message helps you during your time of difficulty. “Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty”. Turn to God because it is His Spirit that will bring you comfort, hope and peace.

As I conclude, I pray that the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. I ask that God pour down blessings and a hedge of protection for all.

With Christ's Love,
Reverend Tina McGehee