Far from wishful thinking or personal aspiration, the Bible describes hope in a profoundly unique way: “In his great mercy God has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet.1:3). Hope that comes from the Gospel isn’t an aspiration, situation, or possession to be reached or received—Gospel hope is a relationship to be had.

Or think about it like this: if you’re about to take a long, difficult journey through a vast wilderness (a wilderness as wild as life itself), there’s a kind of hope to be found in finding food and shelter as you attempt to make your way through. There is an infinitely better kind of hope, however, if you entered the wilderness with an expert and a friend: someone who knows how to survive and even thrive through the wilderness and someone who cares for you so much that He is willing to carefully and faithfully lead you, help you, protect you, and provide for you. This is Gospel hope: a living, breathing, active relationship with a very present and very powerful God named Jesus.

In other words, Jesus is literally living hope, living life with you, day in and day out, through the high’s and the low’s, leveraging His power, wisdom, and truth to lead you, provide for you, protect you, and flourish you—all because He absolutely loves you (Eph. 2:4-5).

King David captures a day in the life with this kind of hope in Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”