In Defense of Hope

As hopelessness, despair, and depression are on the rise, the need for hope is more desperate than ever. In this powerful talk, Jackie Hill Perry shifts the narrative that hope coincides with our circumstances, teaching that our hope instead completely hinges on the resurrection of Christ.

Today, the world is like a courtroom where hope is on trial because the flesh, culture, and Satan have made it where hope is no longer trusted. We look at hope and despise it. When we needed hope to do what we thought it promised to do, it let us down. Instead of asking for hope to help us hold its hand, we let it go and refuse to entertain the idea that the problem isn't hope—the problem is us.

Faith and hope are not the same thing, but you cannot have faith without having hope. It's hard to have faith in the future when you don't know how to trust God with today.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,

  and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

  my salvation and my God.

Psalm 42:11 (ESV)

Our struggle with hope is, in fact, a struggle with God.

Maybe you hoped God would heal someone you love, deliver you from sin, or provide you with a spouse.

When our hope in God does not produce the results we hope for, we put God on the stand alongside hope and accuse Him of not being Himself. We believe He must not be good, faithful, kind, or compassionate. Our thoughts sound similar to the Serpent's—who is fundamentally hopeless.

Maybe you've had seasons where you've found it easier to believe what Satan has said about God than what Jesus has revealed. The flesh loves to believe Satan because it feels safe.

Most of us have been so trained by our history to protect ourselves from disappointment that hoping in God can feel as if it might have the same results. He might just fail you as others have.

But what happens when you refuse hope?

You will become an idolater. The essence of idolatry is hope—it's just misplaced.

We get so scared that God will let us down that we turn to His creation to do what He said only He can do. We exchange the Creator for the creature by exchanging our hope.

Think about when the people of God constructed the golden calf—expecting that it, but not God, would go before them, protect them, and fulfill a promise. We do the same thing.

Every idol we have constructed is because we hoped it could be God for us.

Some of our idolatry is because we are really uncomfortable with moving at God's pace.

We will have to come to terms with the fact that we have a world of desires, needs, and feelings that we may have to wait for God to satisfy.

• As you wait, will you love Him?
• If He never removes the thorn, will you stay?
• If He does not answer the prayer you think you need, will you hope in Him still?

These tests reveal that we leave Him quickly because we want His hand more than His face.

God, in His wisdom, uses this to bring to the surface idols that you would not have seen if He had given what you wanted when you wanted it.

The difficulty of our situations is God's kindness. He has to show us the fragility of our hope so we see Him. When we see Him, we see He is the safest place for your hope to hide.

There are some disappointments in your life that came by way of you expecting stuff that Scripture never told you you could be entitled to.

It is our hope in these promises that help us keep running in the right direction.

If there is any prayer that the Father will always answer—it is the prayers of His resurrected Son.

If you are in Christ, and the Son intercedes on your behalf to the Father, then you have hope.

We have a memory problem—forgetting who He is and what He has done.

Scripture uses the word "remember" 250 times.

God knows if we just rehearsed His faithfulness more than our circumstances, maybe then we would have more hope.

And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”

1 Samuel 17:37

David had hope in God for a battle too big for him because he had no memory problem. He was a shepherd boy who hoped in God by reflecting on two memories.

You don't need much to stir up hope—especially when the Lord of hopes is the one involved.

Our particular histories with God are not the primary source that we glean from—they're the history written in the Word of God.

That book you hold in your hands has 66 books worth of memories that will give you hope when life starts to get hard.

The Psalms were written by people like us—people who know and have experienced God.

David, the boy who defeated Goliath, is suspected to have written Psalm 42. He faced Goliath, but he also faced depression and despair.

David preaches to himself instead of listening to himself.

The reason for our hopelessness will never justify our hopelessness.

Even if the soul had legitimate reason to be sad, have unbelief, or be hopeless, there is no legitimate reason to ever distrust God.

The reason why we can speak to ourselves and preach to ourselves and not give our flesh any room to make excuses for the place we are in is because Christ rose from the dead.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:14

Our hope completely hinges on the fact that God can make dead things alive again.

"If the resurrection is true, then everything’s going to be alright." — Tim Keller

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but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

    they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31