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Hope—The Missing Ingredient

dhuffman

CAMPMEETING: SPEAKER HIGHLIGHT

// Darrell Huffman

Faith operates in the unseen realm. It is a spiritual force that we can't see, taste, touch, hear, or smell. So we must find another way to know more about this subject.

In my search to know more about faith, the Holy Spirit began to speak to me about the importance of hope. He said, "Faith is motivated by your hope; frustration is motivated by your problems." He further said, "My people are in frustration; they are not in faith." Then God said, "If you get consumed with hope, you will be in faith, but My people are so consumed with their problems that they are frustrated."

I answered, "OK. But Lord, I need to see something here. What is this hope and faith?"

Looking at Hebrews 11:1, I saw that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen." Since that's the case, I must first understand what hope is if I ever want to be a person who operates in faith. The Lord then began to show me that without hope, my faith has nothing to go after.

Hope is the missing ingredient. Without it, we won't make the finish line. Hope is what our faith is running to obtain. Hope is our goals, our visions, and our dreams; it is the revelation of what God said He would do for us. Faith, well-grounded in Bible hope, will go out to get whatever we need and bring it back to us. However, too many of us are trying to release faith when faith has nothing to go after.

For the sake of illustration, think about a well-trained dog. One of his favorite games is "fetch." If you toss a ball, he takes off. The dog will run to the toy, grab it, and bring it back to you; and he will do this over and over and over. Hours, days, or months may pass, but as soon as you let him know you are ready to throw, the dog comes!

Now think of it this way: The dog represents your faith (I call him "Faith Dog"), and the ball represents your hope. You need to take your hope (your dreams and God-given plans) and throw! Your faith then has something to go after. Don't be fooled, though. Faith will sit at your feet—just like a dog—until it has something to fetch. Faith cannot run after something that's not there!

So throw your hopes, visions, and God-given dreams out there. This will give your faith something to go after. We don't have to be consumed by our problems. It leads us only to frustration. Instead, we can choose to be consumed by hope. Then we'll be in faith, and through faith we'll see God's promises become a reality in our lives.

[Editor's Note: This article was adapted from Darrell Huffman's book Faith or Frustration.]

 

 


 

Faith in action
Ask God to Show You What to Hope For


If you have nothing to hope for, here's one way to fix that. Ask God to show you what to hope for—to lead you to what He has for you and what He wants you to do (see Eph. 1:16–18; James 1:5). He has said that His children will be led by His Spirit (Rom. 8:14). So open your heart and pray, "Lord, what is Your hope for my life? Please show me my hope, my goals, and my vision. Give me a revelation of Your will so I can use my faith for it. Make hope a reality in my life." Then expect Him to answer your prayer.