Hope Allows Us to Continue Trusting

I was listening to the radio when they announced a contest where a caller might win a thousand dollars. These radio contests happen often, and I have never called in in my whole life. As I was thinking about my track record, I realized it was because I had no hope of winning. Looking back at my life, when there were raffles and drawings, I was never a winner (except once when I won a laminator at a homeschool conference, but I’m pretty sure I was the only one who wanted it).  

Without hope of winning, there is no reason for us to bother. A thousand dollars, a new laptop — those are pretty impressive. But the hope of eternal life is a much higher reward! We turn to God for our needs because we hope in a God who is not only good but trustworthy; a God who wants to give us good things for our happiness. 

Unfortunately, the Devil’s whole goal in life is to make us doubt God’s goodness and not believe that He is trustworthy. Without hope in these two things, we don’t bother “running the race,” as St. Paul puts it in Philippians 3:14. 

Trusting in Hope 

So we have to ask ourselves: Do I believe God cares about my suffering? Do I trust that God will come through?  

Lately, I’ve been meditating on the words of Psalm 25. Look at the way the psalmist describes the idea of hope: 

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul, 
my God, in you I trust; 
do not let me be disgraced;  
do not let my enemies gloat over me. . . 
Make known to me your ways, Lord; 
teach me your paths. 
Guide me by your fidelity and teach me, 
for you are God my savior, 
for you I wait all the day long. 

I love the connection between hope, trust, and waiting on the Lord. I can think of so many moments in my life, from almost missing a train to choosing a job to almost losing my son, when I had to decide whether or not I was going to hope in the Lord. 

About two years ago, we almost lost our fifth child in a drowning accident. As I was driving to the hospital to be with my husband and son, I was begging God to save him. We didn’t know if he had brain damage or would ever open his eyes again, and I cried, “Please God, can’t you see this is my son?”

And I heard Him respond in my heart, “He’s My son, too.” 

A priest met us in the hospital around midnight. We placed our hope in God and prayed for a miracle. As soon as the priest was done anointing my 2-year-old son, he opened his eyes and cried, “Stop!” (He was protesting all the tubes he was hooked up to.) We went home the next day with a clean bill of health. 

We placed our trust in God, and He came through for us. But sometimes our prayers are not answered in the way we want.  

Hope in Grief 

I think of my dear friend whose oldest daughter died from a rare form of cancer in her senior year of high school. What does hope look like when you don’t get the miracle? How can you still believe and trust that God is for you and that God is good? For some, it is a journey. For my friend, in her words, “To whom else can I go?”  

My friend’s deepest desire is for her children to be in heaven. During her daughter’s sickness, she, her parents, and her siblings were reconciled. Her daughter’s sufferings, though tremendous, were united to Christ. She received all the Sacraments, including Anointing of the Sick, and the Apostolic Pardon. Over 700 people were at her funeral, with many more at home praying for her soul.  

My friend had prayed when her child was little that God would take her home to heaven very young if she weren’t going to follow Him later on. And God, in His goodness, answered her deepest prayer — the hope in eternal Beatitude — rather than her more temporal prayers.  

In the papal bull declaring the new jubilee year, Pope Francis wrote,

In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring. (Spes Non Confundit 1) 

We can hope even in the midst of suffering. Hope does not cancel out grief. Grieving, especially after the loss of a family member, is a normal part of life. Even Jesus experienced grief. But the grace of hope allows us to live through the grief, letting the pain transform us and lift our eyes to heaven. It is not easy, but we must not let the Devil steal our trust in God’s goodness, even in the midst of suffering. Hope allows us to continue trusting. 

The Holy Spirit illumines all believers with the light of hope. He keeps that light burning, like an ever-burning lamp, to sustain and invigorate our lives. Christian hope does not deceive or disappoint because it is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love. (SNC 3)

For the Jubilee of Hope, our writers reflect on prayer as a source of hope in their lives.

Copyright 2025 Allison Auth
Images: Holy Cross Family Ministries