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Hope: along with faith and love, it’s one of the pillars on which we build our lives.

It’s the flickering light which hovers on the horizon, towards which we keep our eyes focused. It’s the image of a place beyond our current circumstances. Yet in the wilderness, hope can be in short supply.

The award-winning movie, The Shawshank Redemption, has hope as a pivotal theme. On his release from prison, after many failed attempts to be paroled, one of the central characters, Red, says this, “I find I'm so excited that I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel. A free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.”

This parallels what we go through when we’re in the wilderness. We might not physically be in a prison cell, but there’s certainly a sense of spiritual and emotional separation from society. We feel trapped by despair, where nothing makes sense or matters anymore. We try to rationalise things, we try to escape, we cry out in frustration. Like the prisoner, we’re powerless to change our situation.

Yet just like the two main characters in this movie, we needn’t be constrained by the present. If we hold on to what God says about our future, we’ll learn how to cast our minds forward into the future he’s prepared for us. The more we do this and the more we see God’s faithfulness to achieve what he’s promised, the more our hope will grow.

The word ‘hope’ needs to be better understood if we’re to implement it correctly in our lives. In the Bible it isn’t used as we might in everyday life: “I hope that the weather is good tomorrow so we can go to the beach.” or “I hope to find a loving partner.” The Greek word from which hope comes is elpís. Strong’s Concordance defines the word as: “to anticipate, usually with pleasure” or “joyful and confident expectation”. This isn’t a cross-my-fingers kind of hope. It’s a sure belief that God will do what he says he will – and because of that I can have a “joyful and confident expectation” of his love in my life.

This powerful extract from Romans exemplifies the hope which Abraham had: “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead — since he was about a hundred years old — and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”

Those first few words are incredible: “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed”. When the odds seemed completely stacked against him, and where the fulfilment of God’s promise appeared impossible, Abraham believed in hope. Or perhaps it would be better to say that he believed in the one behind that hope – God. There’s a subtlety in the language used in this extract which shows how he was able to hold on to his faith, despite the seeming impossibility of what had been promised to him.

Maintaining hope while we’re struggling out of the pit isn’t easy, and yet this is what we’re encouraged to do. For without hope, surely the darkness would suffocate us entirely. So, where do we turn and to what can we cling if we’re to have a “joyful and confident expectation” that God is with us and will see us through the wilderness? Here’s the answer: “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.”

More than ever, if we’re to have hope, we must delve into his words to us. We need to dig deep into the Bible, grab hold of his promises, and set those ahead of us. More even than those promises, though, we need to seek the very heart of God. We will find that as we come to know him more intimately, we’ll sense his presence and know his peace. A confidence will build in us that we’re able to believe in God’s promises because of who he is.

We need to remember that just because we’re Christians, we don’t qualify for a life of ease and comfort. We face the same obstacles, challenges, and frustrations that any other person might. But our reaction to those hardships can have a redeeming quality on our lives – and those around us – if we allow it to.

Paul takes a stance which wouldn’t find much acceptance in today’s society when he says that “we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” There certainly aren’t many people around who “glory” in their sufferings, as most choose rather to spend more time complaining about them.

Hope is a process. As with faith, it isn’t something we can force ourselves to do. It’s a daily falling into God’s grace, learning to trust that what Jesus says is true: “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

It’s in developing an ever-deeper relationship with God that his will in our lives becomes paramount and his glory our aim. When we surrender all, we start to understand his purpose for our lives, so much so that when we do ask for anything, we know that it’s already been done, in his perfect way and to his glory.

We need to believe that we will move from the wilderness, and to a place in our lives prepared for us by God. The force that propels us there is hope. May that hope be the candle you carry through the darkness, and may hope show your heart a place beyond the pain. Keep your eyes fixed on the one who is “perfect love”, who takes you by the hand and leads you on. Take David’s words and make them your own: “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”

It’s not through any action of yours that God will help you through the wilderness. It’s entirely because he delights in you. You’re his beloved. Let your hope be in him.

Some thoughts to ponder:

• How can you remind yourself each day that you serve a loving, faithful God, who is true to his word, and who will be with you through the wilderness, through the deep waters, and through the fire?
• As you reflect on the lessons learned over the past 21 days, are there any particular points which stood out, which can help you as you go through this "dark night of the soul"? How can you put these into action each hour of each day, as you journey through the wilderness with your loving Father?