Proverbs 13:12-14 Hope is the expression of something good. Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m hoping for the bad”? Hope is the substance of faith. Faith is not a wispy substance that floats in the air. By faith the children of Israel walked on water across the Jordan. The moment the first priest put his foot in the water, the water held him up. Jesus walked on water. Peter walked on water. How were they able to do these mighty miracles? They were walking on a very real substance called faith. Faith solidifies everything that would ordinarily drown us—the circumstances of life, the trials and tribulations we encounter when God tests us or Satan tempts us.
Faith is solid because it is made of an upholding substance called hope. Hope provides the invisible stepping stones that allow us to cross the most treacherous seas of this life. This hope is different from the hope the world experiences. This hope is based on the Word of God and the living Word, Jesus Christ. Remember the song, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus and His righteousness.” Then it continues, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
Hope is the substance of faith, and this substance consists of building blocks called the promises of God. The highway to heaven is called “FAITH,” and this highway is paved with HOPE. When we were in Israel, our guide led us back from visiting Tel Dan on a very strange path. The path was a stream with rocks placed just enough distance from one another enabling us to leap from rock to rock. To leap from rock to rock, we had to have faith that we would not slip on the next rock and that we had the strength to make the leap. The Christian walk is like this. We take leaps of faith all of our lives, and we trust the next rock will be there for us.
Today’s passage in Proverbs says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (v. 12). You have heard the saying, “Now don’t get your hopes up because you will be disappointed.” If we place our hope in circumstances or people, we will always be disappointed, but if we place our hope in God’s promises, we will never be disappointed. I heard someone say, “The way to never be disappointed is to never expect anything.” Can you imagine a life without expecting good—a life without hope? Hope that does not produce the desired results will make a person sick at heart.
There was a song that went this way, “You’ve got to have hope, miles and miles of hope.” We can have miles and miles of hope if we will base our hope on the solid rock, Jesus, and on the solid promises of God in His Word. When we place our hope in Jesus and His Word, we will never be disappointed. HAVE A GOOD DAY (A DAY FILLED WITH HOPE)!
Lord, help me today to base my hopes on Your Son Jesus and Your Word.
READ: Joshua 19:1Â-20:9; Luke 19:28-48; Psalm 88:1-18; Proverbs 13:12-14
Bill Wiese 
Paul McGuire 
