About Hope

I’m Tim Mossholder, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to connect. I live in Santa Maria, California, with my wife, Kelly (and sometimes one or more of our three grown kids!). I love serving a group called the Emerging Leader Network, and I’m the “head lab tech” over at Discipleship Lab.

If you find something helpful on these pages, or have questions, I’d love to know. Please feel free to use the comment sections liberally! I’ll do my best to respond quickly.

What’s up with hope?

I’m captivated by hope. I see it everywhere, especially as I read the Bible — but this wasn’t always the case. When I used to hear about “hope,” it made little sense to me. It felt like a vague, feel-good concept that I had little chance to truly understand, and I certainly never believed it could shape my life.

But that all changed some years back when I encountered a single verse of Scripture that exploded my understanding of hope. Hebrews 10:23 says,

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

As I poured over these words, I noticed several linked concepts.

First, I’m encouraged to live unswervingly. Life is filled with opportunities to swerve, but I’m encouraged to hold fast: don’t give in, don’t give up!
Second, it is hope itself I’m to hold on to! So hope isn’t just some ethereal concept, but it’s something real that can be apprehended.
Then there’s the tiny word “for”, a conjunction that says, “Now I’m going to let you know why you can hold unswervingly to hope.”
Third, we meet up with God (the “he” referenced here). But this isn’t some impersonal deity — this is a God who has spoken promises to me.
And fourth, this promise-making God is faithful. His word is true. I can base my life upon what he’s said.

If you begin with the “why” at the end of the verse and trace these concepts backward, it would look something like this:

What I discovered about hope is that it isn’t “wishing” (I hope I win the lottery.), and neither is it a half-hearted sentiment when everything seems to be collapsing (I hope it all works out in the end.).

Hope begins when I come to know that because God is faithful, I can trust what he says.
Hope grows when I recognize his promises aren’t generic, they’re actually for me.
Hope becomes the internal spark that drives my faith-filled living, so that even in the darkest hours I can “hold unswervingly.”

People that describe themselves or their circumstances as “hopeless” may just be those who haven’t yet encountered or internalized the promises of the faithful God — the One who will never let them down, the One who paid the price to bring an eternal hope.

Hope changes everything. I trust you’ll find some here.