Hope During Affliction

Remember Your word to Your servant;
You have given me hope through it.
This is my comfort in my affliction.
Psalm 119:49-50a HCSB

This passage reminds me of Roman 12:12 NIV; in fact, it seems to me this passage provides the reason we are urged to be“…joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer…”.

What is hope?

• Bakers Evangelical Dictionary – to trust in, wait for, to expect something beneficial
• Strong’s Concordance – a strong and mighty trust, actively waiting

God’s Word gives us hope. We trust in it. It is the foundation of our hope and should be the only source of our hope. We can be assured God will never disappoint the hope He has given us. Take a look at these two verses:

Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word
and to do what He had promised.
Romans 4:21 AMP

So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish
and confess and our acknowledgement of it,
for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word.
Hebrews 10:23 AMP

We are to have hope even in times of affliction.

So, what is affliction?

• Holman Bible Dictionary – the state of being pained or distressed
• Strong’s Concordance – persecution tribulation, distress, pressure

His Word comforts and sustains us in times of affliction. Check this out:

For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction,
so that we may have hope through endurance
and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.
Romans 15:4 HCSB

His Word was written for OUR instruction. We are to have a strong and mighty trust in His Word as we actively wait during times of pain, distress, and pressure. When we do so, we can be confident in this:

…the God of hope (will) fill you with all joy and peace,
as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 HCSB

I think one of my favorite verses sums up what happens when we hold tight to hope during times of affliction.

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Psalm 27:13 NIV

Continue to expect something beneficial in the future, especially during times of trouble, and you will see the goodness of the Lord.

He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.
1 Thessalonians 5:24

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Father God, we are so thankful we have Your hope to hold on to, especially in the trying times of life. Help us actively wait with a strong and mighty trust in You, knowing we will eventually see Your goodness come through. In Your precious and Holy name we pray – Amen, it is so!

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