June 27

and continually recalling before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. — 1 Thess 1:3 BSB

What is meant by "patience"? It means endurance, as though hope must endure, faith must work, and love must labor. It is the "patience of hope" that proves its reality. Hope does not fight its way forward but rather bears what comes. It is a quiet sufferer, enduring patiently. Hope shows itself by enduring, just as faith shows itself by acting.

For example, when the Lord hides his face, when the testimonies fade, when Satan tempts, when the work of grace in the soul seems obscured, and despondency sets in, the "patience of hope" is needed to endure without giving up, to maintain its hold on Christ.

Hope acts like an anchor, holding the ship in place during a storm. The key quality of an anchor’s cable is its strength to endure. It doesn’t need to make a great display; its only role is to hold firm and not break. When waves rise, winds blow, and the storm rages, the cable’s job is simply to endure, keeping the anchor fast. And so it is with hope in the heart of a believer. Has the Lord ever shown grace to your soul? Has he ever revealed his love or dropped a testimony into your heart? Has the Spirit ever testified that you are one of God's own? Then your hope must endure, patiently holding on through everything that comes against it, trusting that God will keep it and bring it to fulfillment.

The value of hope is shown by its endurance through trials, just as the strength of an anchor cable is proven by holding firm during the fiercest storms.