I was listening to a book on tape recently by Cloud and Townsend. In it John Townsend talks about the difference between wishing and hoping. Wishing originates in one’s own desires and is purely a result of one’s own wants or needs. It has no objective evidence or indications that it is actually possible. Hoping, on the other hand, has objective external signs that what is desired is actually possible. If not out and out evidence, then a promise that one can reasonably expect to come true based on likelihood, past history, experience with the One making the promise,etc.
Townsend says that most people engage in wishful thinking, ignoring information that contradicts what they want to happen. Hope, when rightfully understood, is a powerful thing. Certainly the God of creation, Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection, and the promises of the Word are all worthy of our hope. In fact, they ARE our hope.