Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1

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One day, as I was watching Downton Abbey, something Lady Violet Crawley said stood out to me. In response to her cousin Isobel’s unwavering optimism, Lady Crawley responds, “Hope is a tease, designed to prevent us from accepting reality.”  Wow! How cynical! I thought. The more I ruminated on this quote, the more I realized I understood where she was coming from. When hope feels like a tease, it can be a struggle to hold on to. There are seasons in our lives when hope feels fragile—when the things we prayed for seem delayed, when circumstances refuse to shift, or when God seems absent. In these moments, it’s easy to fix our eyes on what we want God to do instead of who God is. 

In times when hope feels fragile, I am guilty of focusing on what I want God to do. If God could just shift this circumstance, change this relationship, or give me the winning lottery numbers, I would know He heard my prayers. And when those circumstances refuse to budge, I wonder where God is. Has he forgotten about me? Does He care? Thankfully, in times like these, I am reminded that it’s not about where God is, but about who God is and what God’s promise is to us. 

In today’s scripture, we are reminded that having faith means having confidence that God sees the big picture and He is working it all out for our good—even if His definition of “good” challenges ours. This confidence is not blind optimism or wishful thinking, it’s faith, knowing God will fulfill His promise even when His actions feel hidden His promise is to prosper us, not to forsake us. 

There will be days when faith feels small, and hope feels fragile. But even then, God holds us. Confidence in Him grows not by seeing everything clearly, but by remembering that He sees us completely. The assurance we have isn’t that every situation will resolve as we imagine, but that God will always be faithful as He promised.

Next Steps

When hope feels fragile, remember to let your faith rest in the One who always provides. Focus on the God who walks with you every step of the way—unseen, and undoubtedly present, instead of the outcome.

Try listening to this song: Fear Is Not My Future by Brandon Lake and Maverick City Music