Hope

Liberals and progressives hope Hillary Clinton will win the presidency on Tuesday, November 8, that Democrats will take back the House and Senate and that Obama’s legacy will live on.

Conservatives and some Republicans hope Donald Trump will win, that Republicans will keep hold of the House and Senate, thereby as they believe, overcoming the national decline the Obama years have wrought.

Yet Christians hope in Christ who won the race set before him more than two thousand years ago. Is the “hope” the same hope?

Do liberals “trust” in Hillary Clinton; do conservatives “trust” in Donald Trump? For in the Old Testament, the Hebrew words for hope: qawa, tiqwa, and batah -were all about trust.

The Greek word “hupomeno” translates to hope in the New Testament.  New Testament hope means waiting, being patient, enduring through trials and challenges, holding on to joy, boldness, faith, comfort and love because we know the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is coming again.

“…and the government shall be upon his shoulder (Isaiah 9:6).

Sooner or later, and to some smaller or larger degree, we all face disappointment. And, for reasons based on our own political preferences and personal values, we often regret the choices our votes have brought us even after we have wished, hoped, and/or prayed for better.

But in Christ, who is the Lord of heaven and earth, there is no disappointment. He is the Word, the way, the truth, and the life — all that we need, therefore, we are wise to put our hope in Him.

“Hope also stimulates good works. Following his teaching on resurrection of the dead, Paul exhorts his readers to do the Lord’s work abundantly since such “labor is not in   vain” ( 1 Cor 15:51-58 ), (biblestudytools.com).

Let us hope for the best for our nation, doing our best as upright citizens to vote in every election. At all times let us contribute good works for a better world, even if our efforts seem to be in vain when our leaders disappoint us.

Meanwhile, we need not grow weary in doing those good works, because the Lord in whom we trust, and hope, and look for expectantly to return and reconcile all things according to His righteousness, will not make us ashamed or disappointed.