Hunting for Hope in Relationships

Hope Story by Deena Adams

Hunting for Hope in Relationships is the sixth of seven in a series of posts that feature a condensed written version of the Facebook Live seven-day Hope Hunt I recorded in May.

If you’d prefer the more in depth video version, you can find it here.

Biblical Foundation

I believe this topic of hunting for hope in relationships is one of the most impactful among those we’ve covered. Let’s start with a biblical foundation for why relationships matter so much.

All throughout the Bible we see the importance of relationships–between individuals and between us and God. 

There are three specific relationships that come to mind I want to highlight.

Ruth and Naomi

(Ruth 1:16-17)

We learn in the book of Ruth that because of Ruth’s loyalty to her mother-in-law, Naomi, she became the great-grandmother of David and part of Jesus’ genealogy. And because of Ruth’s love, devotion, and care, Naomi found hope despite her grief and despair. 

This is a beautiful picture of loyalty in a family relationship. 

David and Jonathan

(1 Samuel 18:3-4; 20:41-42)

Because of the pact between Jonathan and David, not only did God’s plan for David to reign as the next King of Israel prevail, God used it to bring hope to the world through the Messiah, who would come through David’s royal lineage.

So in this story, we see loyalty in a relationship between friends.

Paul and Barnabas

(Acts 9:26-27)

The result of Barnabas’s encouragement and support of Paul in ministry led to the spread of the gospel throughout the world. And even to this day through the many letters in the Bible Paul penned that we’re privileged to read and share.

What a beautiful picture of loyalty among ministry partners.

The theme I want us to see through these three stories is how God used loyalty in relationships to accomplish His kingdom purposes.

So how does all of this apply to our relationships today? 

We Need One Another

The Bible is clear that God values relationships and teaches that we need each other. We are not meant to do life alone.

I love the picture of the triple-braided cord in Ecclesiastes 4:12, “A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”

That’s one reason these past seven months of stay at home orders have been so difficult, even for us introverts.

Staying isolated goes against what God intends for us.

Think about the different relationships in your life that relate to the three biblical examples I mentioned and the level of loyalty we devote to them.

Family

First, what about family? This may be the hardest area of all because let’s be real, family can be difficult. Messy. Right? I get it.

But if we want to hunt for hope in our relationships, we need to give attention to broken relationships we may avoid dealing with. 

Imagine what Kingdom work God could do through our family relationships when they model Ruth’s devotion to Naomi.

We may never know this side of Heaven how our loyalty to a family member could change future generations.

Friendships

And what about the friendships in our day-to-day lives? Do you have a close friendship like Jonathan and David’s? Someone who has your back? Who, instead of being jealous over your accomplishments and success, applauds you and celebrates with you? And you do the same in return? 

One of the quickest ways to destroy a friendship is jealousy. Comparison to others is a trap of Satan. Either we come away coveting what they have, or we become puffed up with pride. Both are sinful and can lead to hopelessness and despair.

Imagine the hope we can instill in others when we support them and cheer them on.

Ministry Partners

What level of hope could we extend throughout the world if instead of competing with others in our ministry area, we worked together and encouraged one another? How many more people could be reached with the gospel? 

And don’t we all need cheerleaders in our lives?

The world beats us down enough, so let’s not do that to our ministry partners.

Relationships Matter Most

And the most important relationship we need to make sure we get right is the one between us and God.

If you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, or you don’t know what that means, please reach out to me. I’d love the opportunity to share with you how you can know Jesus and find hope not just for our hard circumstances today, but for eternity.

Spend time thinking about family members, friends, and the ministry partners in your life.

Pray and ask God to show you the specific person He wants you to invest in right now. How can you be a cheerleader for them and applaud their successes?

Commit to at least one action step you can take to be a loyal encourager fostering hope in this world.

CLICK TO TWEET: Hunting for Hope in Relationships. The importance of loyalty among Family, Friends, and Ministry Partners.

Check out this post from August 2019 for more encouragement in your relationships.

Join the conversation. How can you encourage someone else to reconcile a broken family relationship? Do you have a friendship like David and Jonathan’s? How has someone encouraged you like Barnabas encouraged Paul?