A quick look at the headlines or through the news channels reveals more reasons than ever to be concerned with the state of the world. Americans are severely divided over abortion, immigration policies, and Israel’s war with Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups. People fight to make ends meet in our struggling economy. The unwell navigate an increasingly complex and expensive medical system to receive care for diseases ranging from chronic to terminal. Parents struggle against mounting social and legal pressure to raise their children according to new standards embracing homosexuality and transgenderism. Politics and everyday life merge when the results of every election have a real and substantial impact on our freedoms, national identity, and way of life.
The world continues to shift around us, and from the perspective of Christians, the changes are a downward spiral. We may not be far from the days Paul predicted in his counsel to his protege in 2 Timothy 3:12–13, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” We certainly are tempted to resign ourselves to a life of thinly concealed hopelessness as we wait for Jesus to return.
But is that our only option? Furthermore, is it the one that most honors Christ and accounts for the many reasons we have to maintain hope in every circumstance?
Time and time again, the Bible reminds us that the correct response to uncertainty is not despair but instead hope.
How can we develop hope and teach the next generation to have it, too? We can answer those questions by examining Scripture to gain a biblical perspective on hardship and hope.
The Bible’s Teaching on Hope
God’s Sovereignty & Grace Inspire Hope
Job’s story is one of unimaginable loss, shaken faith, and loving restoration to which we can all relate. The narrative begins with a series of deals between God and Satan that would stretch Job’s faith to its limits. The author does not inform the reader why God agreed to the challenges, but his right to test Job in this way is presupposed. Job does question God’s justice in the aftermath of his loss, however. His friends arrive to offer much blame and little comfort, and ultimately, God appears to Job in a storm to clear up any confusion and address the man’s accusations against him. Job asked what he had done to earn such suffering and questioned whether God had acted rightly. God replied with proof after proof of his majesty and power, implying that humans cannot match his power or understand his ways, but his children can trust his oversight of their lives to be perfect.
Job responds to God’s revelation with some of the most beautiful words in Scripture: “I know you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted . . . .Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know . . . . I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you” (Job 42:2–5). In other words, what Job had known of God at that point was from stories and old wives’ tales, but because of his hardship, he saw God clearly for the first time as one who is in control of all things and acts only with justice, mercy, and grace toward those he loves.
The Finished Work of Christ Secures Hope
The author of Hebrews wrote his letter to the Jewish Christians experiencing persecution and temptation to abandon their faith. He intended to encourage them to hold fast by elevating Jesus, contrasting the superiority of his work with the incompleteness of everything that had come before. He mentioned that God saw their struggles, and his promise to bless them, made initially to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, remained. The promise was further assured by Jesus, who entered the throne room of God to intercede for them after his ascension. The author described their hope this way in Hebrews 6:19: “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain.”
The verse profoundly reminds us that God has promised good to his people, and his commitment is assured by Christ’s victory over sin and death.
Christians can have hope during challenging times because Jesus secured their salvation and now waits to call his bride home. There is no further proof of God’s goodness than Christ’s sacrifice and his continual intercession on our behalf.
Suffering & Hardship Result in Hope
Paul’s letter to the church in Rome addressed several critical doctrinal matters essential for the early church to understand, including sin, justification by faith, and sanctification, to mention just a few. He also encouraged his readers to have hope in the middle of difficulty in Romans 5:3–4: “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”
In times of suffering and uncertainty, it is easy to feel discouraged or overwhelmed, but the Bible reminds us that difficulty plays a role in shaping our faith. When we encounter hardship, God uses that resistance to build our faith muscles, which in turn helps us maintain emotional and spiritual stability under pressure. Over time, when we can face additional difficulty with hope because our experience has proven God’s faithfulness to us, we remember that we are not alone and trust God to carry us through and meet our needs.
Helping Kids Have Hope During Hard or Uncertain Times
It is critical that we encourage the next generation to have the same trust in God’s provision. Consider the following ideas as you attempt to foster hope in your children.
Talk With Them About Pain, Fear, & Hope
Every parent is familiar with the pressing desire to protect his or her children from the harsh realities of life. Although we should exercise care, we cannot hide challenges from them or solve all their problems. Ideally, we should look for ways to discuss suffering or tragedies with them at an age-appropriate level, keeping things simple but honest. We cannot always control what they discover about the world, but we can help them understand it and view it through the lens of faith rather than fear. When hardship occurs globally, locally, or in our homes, we should let our children know that pain happens in a world fundamentally broken by sin.
The existence of pain, however, does not mean we cannot have hope.
Discussing difficulty is a great way to teach theological truths about the world and God’s continual work to sustain us.
Teach Them About God’s Sovereignty
A discussion with children about the world and God’s activity in it should include sharing about God’s authority over all things. After all, we could take very little comfort in God if he was unfailingly kind but unable to command everything in existence. At a basic level, children need to be taught that God controls the universe and is the ruler of everyone’s life, whether they know it or not. This means that God can do anything he pleases, and everything he does is good. It also means that God allows everything to happen, even those things that are hurtful, challenging, or tragic. But God has promised to use those circumstances for our good (Romans 8:28) and always love us (Romans 8:35–37).
Model a Love for Prayer, Bible Study, & Worship
Finally, the best way to help our children have hope during hardship is to consistently model the actions that will lead to a greater reliance upon God. This includes prayer, Bible study, and worship. As parents, we may protect our Bible study and prayer time because it is some of the only quiet, focused time we have daily. While we want to honor God through that focus, we need to consider how important it is for our children to see us meeting with the Father daily. Daily family worship is one of the most effective ways to accomplish that. Setting aside 10–15 minutes before the day begins or ends to read the Bible, sing songs, and pray with the entire family, we teach our children the importance of these activities and how to do them.
Final Thoughts
Although we would all like for suffering around the world to end, we know it won’t until Jesus returns. The key is to endure hardship with hope. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12). Difficulty may be inevitable but hope in Christ is unshakable.
Dr. Jason Barker (MDiv, DMin) has served as a pastor and educator for twenty years. He is the Dean of Academics at Oak Valley College in Rialto, California, and serves as an adjunct faculty member at four other colleges and seminaries. He, his wife, and their four children live in Southern California.