Dialoguing With Hope

July 28, 2026

Dialoguing With Hope

When the Facts Argue One Thing and God Says Another

I have been known to debate with myself.

One of my finest debating partners is hope.

There are two seats at the table in my mind. Occasionally, I take the seat of the naysayer—the one who insists that there is no hope. From that chair, I list all the reasons I might lose hope, abandon hope, shun hope, or reach for hope to no avail.

Scripture knows that seat well.

Naomi sat there.

“Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me… It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD’s hand has gone out against me!”
—Ruth 1:12–13

Naomi had buried her husband and both of her sons. She was grieving, bitter, and convinced that her future had closed. She could imagine no reason for Ruth or Orpah to connect their futures to hers.

Job sat in that chair too.

“What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient?”
—Job 6:11

Job was not merely discouraged. He was exhausted. He did not believe he possessed enough strength to continue hoping.

Then there was the Shunammite woman.

She had shown hospitality to Elisha. In return, the prophet promised that she would have a son. She had not asked for that promise. Perhaps she had already made peace with her disappointment and learned how to live without that particular dream.

The son was born—but years later, he suddenly died.

The woman went looking for Elisha. When she found him, the anguish poured out of her:

“Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”
—2 Kings 4:28

Do not raise my hopes.

Those may be among the saddest words anyone can speak.

She was not merely grieving the death of her son. She was grieving the apparent betrayal of hope itself. Why awaken a dream only to let it die? Why give her a promise if the promise would end in heartbreak?

Naomi, Job, and the Shunammite woman bring strong arguments to the table. They speak for anyone who has ever wondered whether hope is worth the risk.

Then another voice speaks:

“…in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel.”
—Ezra 10:2

There is still hope.

Those words come in the aftermath of failure and unfaithfulness. They do not deny what has happened. They do not pretend that everything is fine. They simply declare that failure does not have to speak the final word.

There is still hope.

What Happens Without Hope?

Without hope, we shrivel up and die.

We atrophy from the inside out. We formulate no goals, strategize no objectives, and develop no action plans for our lives. We stop dreaming dreams and seeing visions.

We grow cold as we grow old.

We grow bitter instead of better.

Without hope, we cease to seek God. God gradually becomes an irrelevant figure standing along the sidelines of our lives.

Without hope, we die long before we stop breathing.

Does Hope Make Sense?

When we debate with hope, isn’t it possible that the negative voice might win?

Hope can appear illogical. We can think of any number of rational reasons for discrediting it in our lives or in the lives of others.

Hope is risky.

Hope is audacious.

Hope can even be embarrassing.

At worst, we may lose time, money, energy, and opportunity. At the very least, we risk losing face. We go out on a limb knowing that someone may saw it off behind us.

But without hope, we lose everything.

That is why something within us remains drawn to the other side of the table. Even when we sit in the chair of hopelessness and rehearse all our arguments, we continue to hear another voice.

For the follower of Jesus, there is one solid and indisputable reason to hope:

Jesus himself.

The “facts” may seem to argue against hope, but the voice of God says:

There is still hope.

Biblical hope is not wishful thinking. It is not pretending that our problems do not exist. It does not require us to deny grief, suppress disappointment, or ignore the evidence sitting in front of us.

Hope looks beyond the visible facts to the ultimate reality of God.

Hope is based upon irrefutable truth.

Hope is founded upon ultimate reality.

Hope is rooted in dynamic power.

Even if there were no evidence to support hope, the still, small voice of God’s eternal Spirit would continue whispering it into our hearts.

But there is evidence.

We can look through history and see millions of transformed lives. We can look around us today and see people who have been forgiven, restored, redirected, healed, reconciled, and given new purpose.

We can look at Naomi and remember that she could not yet see Ruth, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David, or the generations that would follow.

We can look at Job and remember that his cry of despair was not the final chapter of his story.

We can look at the Shunammite woman and remember that she carried her grief directly to the prophet of God. Her protest was not the absence of faith. It was wounded faith refusing to walk away without an answer.

Most of all, we look to Jesus.

We look to the cross, where hope appeared to die.

We look to the sealed tomb, where the facts seemed final.

Then we look toward resurrection morning.

The stone was rolled away.

Death did not have the final word.

Embrace Hope and Live

Let us resolve to be people of hope.

We may still debate. We may still ask questions. We may still occupy the naysayer’s chair occasionally and list every reason that hope seems unreasonable.

But let us also listen.

Let us hear the voice across the table saying:

There is still hope.

As we become hopeful about God’s bright future, our hope will become contagious. It will spill from our lives into the lives of other people. It will encourage them to rise, dream again, and accept the challenge God places before them.

We do not have to manufacture hope.

We receive it.

We nurture it.

We share it.

Embrace hope and live.