The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:16-18, NASB

At the dinner table, I like to ask my children to share one thing they are looking forward to—their answers always provide insight into what is important to them and can help explain their countenance.

When we “look forward to” something, it proportionately impacts our excitement over that one thing towards everything else we experience. For example, looking forward to spring break helps educators get through the mid-year doldrums. After that, the challenges of the remaining weeks of the school year diminish with the approach of summer vacation!

I think that our experience of looking forward to things and the way it impacts our attitude is equivalent to what the Bible calls hope. But, biblical hope is different than our typical use of the word. We usually use hope to express our interest in a desirable but uncertain outcome. For example, “I hope it doesn’t rain on Easter Sunday.” This is hope in name only, because it has little power to impact our attitude! But biblical hope is much more like “looking forward to.” We look forward to things for which we have confidence in their coming to pass. For example, summer vacation always comes every year, as sure as spring follows winter. This confidence that better things are coming around the corner helps us weather the storms and challenges of today.

We are quite good at exercising this capacity for the biblical kind of hope, even if we use it mostly for temporal things. But what if we have been given this capacity for a much more significant purpose? Do you ever wonder why some people experience transcendent joy—the capacity to rejoice in all things? Is there anything you can think of to look forward to that could give you that kind of joy? I can think of something…

We were made to know our God, and to enjoy Him in His presence forever! This is called glorification, and for those He has justified, it is coming as surely as winter is followed by spring.

Our hope in this destiny makes all the difference.

Lord, You are our hope of glory. Please let us remember every day the incredible inheritance we have in Christ Jesus. Let us look forward to it with confidence that sparks steadfast joy until that day when You call us home. Amen.

Copyright Jere Vandewalle.

Jere is the Director of Operations for Christian Educators.