Hopes and Dreams

What are we looking forward to? The expectation of something good or exciting encourages each of us in our daily lives. It’s something we can look forward to, or depend upon, something we can hang our hopes on. There may be times when we need help, someone to talk to, perhaps just a visit from a friend, or a word of encouragement. We store up promises and hold them in our hearts. We may receive good news or bad news, but either way it has an effect on our lives, and we can either cling on to a hope or, in the case of bad news, allow it to pull us down into depths of worry or even despair.

How about the words of God? His words are true and dependable. His words are life and hope, joy and anticipation. Do we hold on to them to help us through times of difficulty? Do they become a lifeline we can depend on to rescue us from anxiety or fear?

A friend said to me once, “They’re only words.” Perhaps, but it’s what do we do with these words that’s important. We can dismiss them as irrelevant in the real world - hope without substance - or hold them in our heart as a foundation for strength and anticipation. “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). ‘For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword’ (Hebrews 4:12).

The words of God are power to all who believe. They are not just wise sayings fed into our fragile human understanding, but words of life from the One who gives us life. ‘So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal’ (2 Corinthians 4:8), or, as the NLT puts it, ‘We don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.’

Let’s not weary ourselves with false hopes and impossible dreams. These are as vapour that disappears like the mist on a summer morning. But let’s put our faith and belief in the truth, which will set us free from the uncertainties of life, and let’s build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ Himself. “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

Let’s not waste our time, or even our life, on futile hopes and impossible dreams. But let’s hold firmly to the Word of Life Himself, and know the security and certainty of walking in the power of the One who lives within us.

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

“Lord,” said Thomas, “how can we know the way?”’

 ‘Jesus answered, “I am the way”’ (John 14:6).