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7 Promises – I Have Hope
In my first reading of this scripture, the following words jumped out to me:
- future
- wait
- seek
Future: at a later time; going or likely to happen or exist
I found this definition to be interesting. Likely to happen gives an air of uncertainty, but going to happen is certain. We WILL have a future and we can hold our hope in that.
Wait: to delay action until something else happens; remain in readiness for some purpose.
This one stumped me for a while because it actually brought about a question! “The Lord is good to those who wait.” Last week I asked the question, what are we waiting for? (see that post here) In the NIV version of the Bible, “The Lord is good to those who wait” is translated instead as “The Lord is good to those who have hope in him.” Now that is the second time I see this difference, so my question becomes:
Questions: Why is hope vs. wait used in different versions of the Bible?
I looked up the original Hebrew and then realized …. I don’t read Hebrew haha. So I went digging around some more to find analysis on the Hebrew verb “wait” and what it means in this scripture of the Bible. I found that several verbs, in context, can be translated into hope or wait. In this context it seems to be wait for God hopefully. This means that when we wait for Him, we show hope in Him.
Side note, I really like how this Bible study has introduced me to so many new things. I really enjoyed looking into Hebrew!
Seek: attempt or desire to find, to ask for something from someone.
I loved the idea of asking for something in this definition. I believe that people can have a very personal relationship with God. When we pray I believe he can hear us. Sometimes he responds, and sometimes he doesn’t. This relationship can be very powerful! When I seek guidance or knowledge, I know that I can ask God. That is a very safe and hopeful feeling.
Wait for God Hopefully
These passages were so interesting! Out of this word analysis, I discovered the phrase: Wait for God Hopefully. I believe this can be used in SO many aspects of my life. I can seek His will and his wisdom, and then I will wait with hope that my path will be revealed to me. Hope, this is one of His 7 promises to me.