Hope is a powerful motivator.  

A close friend didn’t get the post-cancer surgery report we had hoped for.  You can imagine my feelings when I got a text from her this week asking if I had a good book on Heaven.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized her wisdom in turning her thoughts from her present suffering to her future happiness whenever that may be.  

Some parents try to motivate their kids with promises that they’ll get presents from Santa if they are good.  Kids hoping for toys try to be nice!  It is true that looking forward to something good helps us stay on track.    We looked forward to getting our driver’s license, so we studied the test booklet and practiced driving for our test.  We looked forward to graduating, so we studied.  We wanted to succeed in our career so we worked hard.  We wanted to retire so we didn’t quit our job when we felt like it.

Anticipation gives us the strength to keep moving forward.  We often use the saying, “Light at the end of the tunnel” to express the idea of looking forward to an end of something hard and the beginning of good things.  Hope keeps us keeping on.  It isn’t always going to be this way.  There are better times ahead. If you’re a mom, remember how hard the last month of pregnancy was?  Then how hard labor and delivery were?  But you pushed through because you were looking forward to holding that precious baby in your arms.  There would be an end to the pain and then you’d get to meet that new little human.  Dear Husband remembers counting the days till his service in Vietnam would be over so he could go home to his family and then get on with his life. 

God gives us hope.  He made us able to yearn for better things.  He gives us glimpses of good things ahead so we don’t get discouraged and give up.  He wants us to trust that he is in control and his plan is good.  This godly hope carried oppressed peoples in the past through hardship and enabled them to press on.  The little nation of Israel was often conquered, yet they held out hope that God would fix things according to his promise:

“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!
And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.
Her people will be a source of joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and delight in my people.
And the sound of weeping and crying
will be heard in it no more.”  Isaiah 65:17-19

And centuries later when those who trust God encounter hardships, disappointments, pain, and loss we still know that God will fix all that’s wrong with this old world.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.  And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:1-5

We can visualize how it’s going to be.  As our imagination paints the beautiful future, our anticipation grows and we enjoy it from a distance. The curtain is pulled back and we glimpse our future.  We’re transported to that better place and time and we breathe the air of that place.  It gives us comfort.  Better things are coming.  We know the outcome and that happy ending gives us peace right now.  Confidence grows in our hearts.  Everything is going to be ok.  This present trouble is temporary.  Thinking about our future happiness makes us happy now.  We gain strength and courage and determination now by picturing the good things to come.

“All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.  Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own.  If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back.  But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”  Hebrews 11:13-16

This isn’t to say that we don’t think about the present.  Thinking about our future actually motivates us to action in the here and now.  We have confidence in the outcome so we are happy to work at pleasing our coming King right now as we look forward to seeing him someday.

“Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children.”  1 Peter 1:13

“. . . what holy and godly lives you should live,  looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames.  But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.  And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.”  2 Peter 3:11-14

P.S.  Did you notice that we’re not looking forward to floating on clouds playing harps?  We’re anticipating the enjoyment of a remade universe complete with a glittering capital city on the new earth where we’ll live happy and meaningful lives.