When we look at hope, it is difficult to separate it from faith and trust. Hope is focused on the future, faith is for the present, and trust is dependent on our past experiences. 

Hope on a good day is natural hope, which everyone possesses. It is when we lose our natural hope, that we find God has more for us. These times of hopelessness are like warning lights along the road. When we lose hope because our circumstances are no longer favorable, and we lose our way, it can bring opportunity for clarity if we turn our eyes to The Way. 

Hope is for the hopeless! For some reason, we just don’t get this. We are filled to overflowing with hope when the sun is shining, and the flowers are blooming. That is one reason I love spring. But the testing of our hope doesn’t come on a sunny, clear sky kind of day. The true measure of our hope comes when the sky is grey, the wind is whipping so strong we have to tie everything down to keep from getting blown away. It is like the time Jesus was in the boat sleeping, and the fishermen were fretting as they fought the winds that were overtaking them.

Jesus Calms The Storm: Mark 4:37-41The Voice

As they sailed, a storm formed. The winds whipped up huge waves that broke over the bow, filling the boat with so much water that even the experienced sailors among them were sure they were going to sink. Jesus was back in the stern of the boat, sound asleep on a cushion, when the disciples shook Him awake. 

Disciples (shouting over the storm): Jesus, Master, don’t You care that we’re going to die?

He got up, shouted words into the wind, and commanded the waves.

Jesus: That’s enough! Be still!

And immediately the wind died down to nothing, the waves stopped.

Jesus: How can you be so afraid? After all you’ve seen, where is your faith?

The disciples were still afraid, slowly coming to grips with what they had seen.

Disciples (to one another): Who is this Jesus? How can it be that He has power over even the wind and the waves?

The focus on this passage is often on the demonstration of power over the storm. But let’s look again to how Jesus responded to them after he calmed the storm. He said, “How can you be so afraid? After all you’ve seen, where is your faith?” They had witnessed Him healing every disease and sickness, paralysis, severe pain, seizures and setting the demon-possesed free. Yet, their trust and faith still wasn’t secure, and their hope turned to hopelessness when the storm came. 

Today, let’s ask God to anchor our hope to Him, and give us a revelation of His hand at work in our lives. Secure, anchored hope brings peace and trust along with it. He is the only one worthy of our trust. I’m leaving you with a few more scriptures to ponder today.

Holding tight to hope, faith, and trust in the midst of my storm,

Tami Gaupp