Hope can be a very powerful thing, making the difference between life and death. The Bible says that it is one of the few things that will remain, besides faith and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). But not all hope is the same. We can have either victorious hope or defeated hope.

Defeated hope is more of a wishing. We have already determined what we want the outcome in a situation to be, and we want God to make it happen. We’ve done all we can do, and we’ve asked others to do what they can for our desired outcome, and still nothing has changed.

This hope then becomes full of doubt, and we begin pleading and begging with God to hear our prayers and do our bidding. We tell Him that He is our only hope, that there’s nothing more we can do in this situation to turn it around. If God doesn’t come through in the way we want, all hope is lost and we quit.

A victorious hope works differently. It is not based on what we want, but on who God is. If we have already determined that God is almighty, all powerful, the faithful God of the impossible who loves us with an everlasting love and only wants what’s best for us, then we are ready to walk in victorious hope.

The foundation of victorious hope is believing that God’s ways and plans are best, and His timing is perfect. We must believe that the plans He has for us are for our good, to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). Then as we seek God’s best plans for us, we must be willing to surrender our own desires and accept that His ways are for our good and for His glory. 

That’s when we can have confident expectation that God will do what He said He will do. Victorious hope stands on God’s promises and believes that whatever the outcome, it will be alright. God will walk with us through whatever happens, as He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. When we believe this, victorious hope does not disappoint, for we have put our trust in God’s goodness alone.

When we declare that God is our only hope, this should be a shout of victory, and not an admission of defeat that all will be lost if He doesn’t do what we want Him to do. We need the mindset that says whatever the outcome in every situation in our lives, it’s cause for victory because it’s the best possible thing for us.

Many have shipwrecked their faith because their hope was in their own wishes and plans, and they would only be satisfied if God answered their prayers as they had predetermined. We can only have the confident expectation, victorious God ordained kind of hope if we are willing to leave the outcome to Him and trust that whatever He decides is best.

We must seek God’s will in every situation in our lives, and once we’re assured that God has answered and shown us what He had determined, that is when we can have confident expectation that God will do as He has promised, for He cannot lie. What His mouth has spoken, His hands will do. He is faithful to bring to completion that which He has started in our lives. 

Hope Ministries is a Christian counseling center, and we are here to help. If you would like to speak confidentially with someone, give us a call at 845-482-5300.