BibleProject | What Gives You Hope?Sample

Hope Versus Optimism

Imagine the feeling of waiting for a job offer when you really need a job. Then imagine the feelings you might have when losing a loved one. Those experiences are very different, yet they share the desire for a better life, a better situation than the present one. This is where many people turn to optimism.

But what if optimism distorts the way we hope for a new future?

Optimism is often impersonal and a stranger to our emotions, so it relies on circumstances as a compass. Biblical hope is different because it is a choice to rely on a person (Jesus), not our circumstances. The biblical authors talk a lot about hope, and while they hope for the same things we all hope for—peace, safety, healing, love—to them, “hope” is not focused on the things or the stuff. Instead it’s focused on the promise and power of God. So they write things like, “My hope is in you, God!” (Ps. 39:7).

Unlike optimism, which only measures the surface, biblical hope goes deep to ask that Jesus would meet us in our sadness or anticipation. Jesus often reminds his friends that they cannot understand how everything works—why people harm one another, why sickness continues, or when evil will finally end. But he does promise to set the world right, and he invites us to join him in repairing the world.

So we find hope in every Jesus-like act of love, forgiveness, and generosity. His life, death, and resurrection are the anchor for our highest hopes that one day Jesus will come again to make all wrong things right.