Job 8:13-18, Psalm 62:5-8, 2 Peter 3:1-18
“…the hope of the godless will perish.”
Job 8:13
“Rest in God alone…for my hope comes from him.”
Psalm 62:5
“The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9
While many might consider me patient, I know my own impatience. While I wait for something, I still want it now. Yet, I wait.
1) Do you think of yourself as impatient? Do others think of you as impatient?
2) Can you think of someone you feel is impatient?
Yesterday, hope was the focus, just as it is today. In fact, hope is part of the foundation of the Christian faith. Faith is trust. Hope and faith are tied together. They really cannot be separated. While Job’s friends had questionable motives and an unclear understanding of God, there is still truth in them. Bildad reminds Job that hope not founded on God is useless. In the Psalm, David reminds himself and us that unshakable hope can only come from God. In other words, true hope is based upon faith (trust) in God.
The birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God, was (and remains) fulfilled hope. Peter reminds the church that this is not the end of hope. Jesus will come again. In Peter’s day, people were already losing hope because God had not yet come back. Around 2000 years later, Jesus has still not returned! If our hope is based on our understanding, how easy it is to lose hope. When our hope is based upon God, trusting God, and relying on God’s nature, our hope remains secure!
3) Do you lose hope quickly? Why?
4) If you trust God today, why would you not trust God with tomorrow?
5) How does being impatient undermine trusting God?