5 Ways to Sustain Hope When the Future Is Uncertain

During times of chaos and confusion, we can become weary and leery when we focus too much on our newsfeeds. Who can we trust? Who’s telling the truth? What’s the real story? When we focus on the world in this manner then yes, we will lose hope. How can we not?

Isaiah gently turns our focus back to where it should be: in God. “Those who hope in the LORD,” he writes, “will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint (40:31, emphasis mine).

God promises to rejuvenate our fortitude so that we can keep moving forward into the future, one day at a time. Even with shaky steps and anxious hearts, we trust that God has us, and the future, in hand. Deuteronomy 31:8 reminds us, in fact, that God “goes before [us] and will be with [us]. He will never leave [us] nor forsake [us].” Think of God’s presence as the daily cloud and the nightly pillar of fire, which faithfully led the Israelites forward to an unknown destination and into an uncertain future. With this same promise of his omnipresent and omniscient guidance, we needn’t be afraid or discouraged. 

Henri Nouwen says, “Hope makes you see God’s guiding hand not only in the gentle and pleasant moments but also in the shadows of disappointment and darkness.”

Indeed, the future from our shortsighted, vertical perspective looks dark, even ominous. However, God’s view is a horizontal timeline. He knows the past, present, and future. He knows “the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:20).

Furthermore, he is “light, and in him there is no darkness” (1 John 1:5). In our most intrepid moments, he becomes all the more “our refuge and strength, a very present help [and hope] in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

For further mediation:

“May the God of hope fill [me] with all joy and peace as [I] trust in him, so that [I] may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” - Romans 15:13 (personalized)

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.’” - Jeremiah 29:11

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Love appears to be lacking in our world right now. Rather, anger, ambition, and self-aggrandizing rule the hearts of many. 

Not so with God, Jeremiah reminded himself (and us) in the midst of national despair when all looked hopeless. Yet he clung to this hope, that “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21-23). God’s everlasting love, faithfulness, goodness, and compassion for his people, Jeremiah posits, are inexhaustible and enduring. Every day offers us fresh mercies!

Alan Carr writes, “Jeremiah knew that whether things went well, or whether everything fell apart, God would still be God and that God would be eternally faithful to His people! Jeremiah was still able to find hope in a hopeless situation because he believed in the faithfulness of His great God.”

For further mediation:

“‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore, I hope in him!’” - Lamentations 3:24a

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued my faithfulness to you.” - Jeremiah 31:3

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Through the gospel, we are offered grace through faith, the forgiveness of our sins, the redemption of our souls, the restoration of our relationship with God, and the promise of a future in heaven with God. Our hope and comfort lie in these all-powerful, profound truths that alter the eternal trajectory of our lives.

Those who have rejected the living, saving message of the gospel, on the other hand, are without this hope. They go through life mired down in their sin, weary and heavy ladened. Guilt, shame, and unbelief burden their souls. Without surrendering to Christ, they have nothing to look forward to, nothing to keep them from succumbing to fear and anxiety about the future, both here and in the hereafter. 

For further meditation:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” - 1 Peter 1:3

“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard.” - Colossians 1:21-23a

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Both our bodies and the earth, because of sin, are subject to all manner of illnesses, epidemics, and disasters. Yet we understand through Scripture that both will wonderfully experience complete restoration. 

For believers, that restoration entails complete healing, wholeness, and holiness. Our bodies and minds will be glorified (made incorruptible, imperishable, wholly spiritual). All sorrow, pain, tears, and death are abolished. We will know only joy, peace, contentment, and happiness in the presence of God.

Similarly, the earth, presently “groaning” as if in labor (Romans 8:22) will experience renewal. It will be purified of natural disasters, thistles and weeds, and harmful elements—although how specifically this purification happens and what form it takes is unclear. 

After purification, though, the earth will resemble an Edenic-like state, with the beautiful and bejeweled new Jerusalem at its center. Humans will live in harmony with one another and with the animals (Isaiah 11:6). We will resume a vegan diet (eating only fruit from the tree of life) and drink wine (Mark 14:25; Revelation 2:7, 22:2). Even the animals, which once preyed on each other for food, will eat “straw” (Isaiah 65:25). The earth will once again be pristine, perfect, and glorious, as God originally intended.

For further meditation:

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

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.” - 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

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The instant we believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we are adopted into a spiritual family, which is protected under the headship of God the Father. As God’s beloved children and co-heirs with his Son, Jesus, we are guaranteed (egguos, “assured, pledged”) an inheritance in heaven. This inheritance, Peter says, is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept (téreó, “guarded, watched over”) in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4). 

What can we know with certainty about this inheritance? 

That God will be among us forever (Leviticus 26:12; Revelation 21:7b).

That we will see God face to face (Psalm 17:15; 1 Corinthians 13:12a; Revelation 22:4).

That we will possess full knowledge of the truth (1 Corinthians 12b).

That we will be without blemish or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27).

That there will be Christian brothers and sisters there from every nation (Luke 13:29).

That it contains a city beyond imagining, with streets of gold and gates of pearl (Revelation 21:12, 14).

That there are “many rooms” (John 14:2).

That we will never go hungry or thirsty, or endure “scorching heat;” we will be fully satisfied and safe (Revelation 7:16).

That there is a river flowing from the throne of God, and the tree of life is present once again, yielding its fruit every month for us to eat (Revelation 22:1-2).

That it will be no more night (Revelation 22:5).

That we will “rest from our labors” (Revelation 14:13).

That we will “serve God;” yet in what ways is unknown (Revelation 22:3).

All of this awaits us in heaven and on the new earth. In the meantime, we wait. We wait expectantly and excitedly; and we hold tightly to the hope of enjoying our eternal inheritance through the difficult and uncertain times.

For further meditation:

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” - 1 Peter 1:13

“The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” - Romans 8:18

A Prayer for Hope: “Lord, I maintain my hope in You, and I hold onto the assurance that what I am praying for is already accomplished in the name of Jesus. Your Word promises, “no good thing does He withhold from those that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). I wait upon You for Your “good thing.” You will not withhold from me. As David prayed in Psalm 18:1: “I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

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