Hope and God’s Partnership: Tikvah the Rope

October 21, 2023

Today’s devotion is the final one in the series on hope. Over the past few weeks we have looked at the connection between hope and God’s peace, presence, provision, and partnership. In the first post, I mentioned how hope is like a cord that is composed of many strands that are tightly held together. And it’s fitting that we end where we began: with a rope.

Today’s devotional taught readers the Hebrew word Tikvah (Teek-VAH). This word shows up in several different places in the Old Testament; however, we focused on the one in Joshua 2 because it highlights both meanings of the word: rope and hope. Tikvak outside the window means Rahab will be saved. She trusts it’s true but has to wait and hope through a terrible slaughter around her. She also has to act. She needs to tie the cord to her window frame.

God wants us to work with him. 1 Corinthians 3:9 says “we are co-workers in God’s service.” Colossians 3:23-24 reminds us that whatever we do—no matter what it is—we should do it for God. And there are many ways we can teach our children to partner with God:

• Meditate on God’s Word and pray together. (Check out the KC ebook on prayer and faith practices).

• Help your kids find opportunities to serve at church, like being greeters, helping in a community project, or volunteering in the church nursery to play with and read to younger children.

• Encourage your children to befriend those who need an ally and to create safe spaces where everyone can join in.

• Spend time outside cycling, hiking, and learning about the local environment.

• Read together nonfiction stories, watch documentaries, or listen to community leaders with your children to help them learn about their local community and the wider world. Pray for each leader and encourage your children to write to them about topics that matter.

• Find service opportunities that your child would enjoy, and invite them to pick one they can help lead the family in doing.

But how does partnering with God give us and our kids hope? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, hope means “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” Partnering with God gives us the confidence to imagine and wonder what's possible and how we can help make the world better than it presently is. When we choose to work with God, we are allowing him to use us as an agent of change. We can imagine a better world as promised by God, and that gives us hope because God is a promise keeper.

Jeremiah 29:11 says that “‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope (Tikvah) and a future.’” We can have hope when we work with God because we know he knows the future, we know he loves us, and we can expect him to give us what’s ultimately the best thing for us.

Want to do a deep dive? Check out Family Fire's article How Do I Help My Child Process Trauma?