Hope? Trust?
The devotions for the coming week are taken from Lutheran Tract Mission’s 2026 Lenten devotional, ‘Hope for Our Future’. Written by Anne Hansen, Lutheran Tract Mission’s Tract Development Officer, the devotions focus on how our futures and hopes are assured in Jesus Christ. The Lenten devotional is available here. It can be downloaded, printed or used as a digital flipbook.
by Anne Hansen
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But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him (Jeremiah 17:7).
Read Jeremiah 17:7,8
In 1989, Tania (a friend from school) and I decided to go and visit another one of our friends, Julie. Julie had taken up a job as a nursing sister in Far North Queensland, among the community of Wujal Wujal. The thing is, both Tania and I worked in Adelaide. We packed up my car (a Toyota Corona Mark II) and began our trek. It was during the January school holidays, and it was hot. Back then, there were no mobile phones, so we just trusted that this car would get us there and hoped to spend a couple of weeks with our friend. We did have a few mishaps, needing to stay in one town for a couple of nights to have the engine repaired, but we finally arrived in Cairns.
Julie met us at the Lutheran church, where we left my car and packed into her 4WD. Wujal Wujal is a remote Aboriginal community, and we needed to travel through rivers and across extremely rugged roads. What an experience! Living among this community was incredible, and they had to rely on getting supplies across the Bloomfield River. This river was tidal, so it became very dangerous during the wet season. Julie knew the tide times and safely got us across at low tide.
What is the difference between hope and trust? Hope is the feeling of desiring and expecting something to happen. Trust, on the other hand, is the firm belief in the reliability, truth or ability of someone or something.
In the Bible, we may sometimes think that hope and trust are interchangeable, and this can work in some cases. But, in our lives, we put our trust (firm belief, reliability) in a loving God who sent his only Son to Earth for our salvation. Our hope (expectation) lies in the promises Jesus gives us – he has many rooms in his Father’s house, and he has prepared a place for us (John 14:2).
We put our trust in God for the hope of a future with him!
Lord Jesus, I confidently place my trust in the fact that you died for me. My hope lies in your resurrection and that you will also take me to be with you where you are. Amen.
Anne Hansen has worked as the Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer for almost 20 years. She lives in Noosa, Queensland, with her husband Mark (a pastor). She enjoys leading Know Your Bible (KYB) and Mainly Music. For relaxation, she loves walking, reading, gardening and playing pickleball.
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