We all need to be saved. In fact, we may need to be saved many times. We slip. We stumble. We fall. We need to be picked up and set back on our feet. Some of our struggles are of our own making, while others happen at no fault of our own. Sometimes our lives seem to be filled with struggles. We need saving.

            The good news is that we are saved. Jesus came to save us, but He won’t force us to choose Him. When we choose to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our hope is initiated. The hope we have is in the promises of God, the promises of Jesus. We have seen God fulfill his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We have seen Jesus fulfill the promise God made that he would send a Savior. Seeing those promises fulfilled is fuel for our hope.

            Our hope is in something we have not seen nor can we see. But if we could see it, we would not have hope. For it is in the unseen that we hope. The unseen promise of Jesus is that He will return for us and will take us to where He is. We wait for His return. The Apostle Paul tells us to wait with patience. Patience is hard to come by. Often, we must learn patience through trial.

Waiting in patience does not mean we do not wait eagerly. We can be eager with anticipation of Jesus’ return while being patient. The anticipation can boil up within us, creating great joy. The joy also feeds our hope. Therefore, our hope compounds and multiplies with patience, anticipation, eagerness, and joy.

We are saved by Jesus and the hope we have in Him. He continually washes us clean as we repent and ask for forgiveness. He continually intercedes on our behalf to God the Father. Jesus, our Savior, has prepared the way for us to join Him for all eternity. Without the preparation He made by going to the cross, the resurrection, and His ascension, we would continue to be lost.

Saved. Saved from the expectations of our culture. Saved from our past. Saved to live free. Saved to tell others about our hope. God is patient with us so that our hope is strengthened, our joy is made complete, and we wait for His return with patience and joy.

Without hope, we would be depressed, anxious, fearful, and lost. Since we have hope, we can leave those behind and focus on Jesus, the object of our hope. He will never leave us. Our hope is confidence in Jesus. Our hope is trust in God’s promises. Hold on to your hope. Allow it to show in all that you do.

Romans 8:24-25: For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.