The Reason for Your Hope
Edited directly from the sermon transcript of Matthew Miller’s message at Highland Hills Church of Christ on June 21, 2026. Adapted for length and readability while preserving his voice and message.
Every human being goes through hardships. It doesn’t matter how wealthy or impoverished, how famous or obscure. We all go through them.
Maybe a coworker, neighbor, friend, or family member has asked you, “You’ve been through so much lately. How are you still holding up?” That question comes from care and concern, but it carries something deeper: What keeps a person going when life hurts?
For Christians, it can raise another question: Where is God when it hurts? There’s an assumption that faith should somehow remove suffering.
Think about metal. It is fashioned and formed through fire. Faith is often revealed in hardship rather than comfort. In 1 Peter 3, this crucible of suffering may be one of our best opportunities to demonstrate faith in Jesus.
Peter writes to believers facing hostility and persecution. Jesus never promised that following him would mean easy living and big bags of money on your porch every morning, despite what some people on TV might want us to believe. He told his people they would face persecution.
Peter doesn’t tell them to retreat or compromise. He teaches them to live so that their sufferings become a place to proclaim Christ:
“But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”
When we count our blessings, it’s easy to overlook hardship, suffering, and persecution. Those don’t seem to belong on the list, do they? But Peter says that even if you suffer because of your righteousness, you are blessed.
Let’s be clear: the blessing is not in the pain itself. Pain is not a virtue. It’s not that being afflicted with more pain makes you more righteous. The blessing is who you belong to in the midst of it.
When a soldier receives a wound while protecting another person, we celebrate the honorable action, not the wound itself. The honor comes from what that wound reveals: where the soldier stood, whom they protected, and what they stood for.
In the same way, suffering for righteousness identifies us with Jesus. We don’t need to chase hardship, but we shouldn’t deny its place in our faith journey either.
Peter teaches that faithfulness is more important than comfort. But he doesn’t deny God’s comfort. The comfort God gives is peace in the soul, assurance, and hope.
It’s easy to read verse 15 and run straight to “give a defense.” But Peter begins with sanctifying the Lord in your heart, setting him apart. It begins with a surrendered heart.
I love apologetics, giving a reasonable defense for faith. I love the deeper theological and philosophical arguments. But Peter starts with our allegiance to Jesus.
At camp, I asked the cabin leaders, “Can you have priorities?” They said, “Of course.” I asked, “What is a priority?” They thought about it and said, “The most important thing.”
Excellent. Now back to the first question: How can you have multiple most important things?
I’m not going to ask how many of you have sat in a meeting where someone said, “We’re going to list our top ten priorities.” It might not be wise to tell your boss, “You can’t have ten priorities.” But the question remains: What is most important?
Before we give a reasonable defense for faith, there must be a heart surrendered to Jesus. He sits on the throne of our hearts. That doesn’t mean we’ve figured everything out or have all the answers. It does mean this most important question is settled.
Notice Peter’s order. Christ rules your heart. Suffering reveals your faith. People take note and ask questions. Then you give an answer.
He doesn’t say to find someone and badger them with a thousand questions. He says to surrender your heart to Jesus and let that be seen authentically, even amid pain. Visible hope opens a door.
Biblical hope is not endless, gleeful optimism. I try to be an eternal optimist and reframe things positively, but sometimes things get really bad. Is hope lost then?
Biblical hope is confidence rooted in God’s promises. We put our trust in what he has said, rather than our circumstances, our feelings, or our mood on any given day.
I might be suffering right now, but that does not change God’s existence. It does not mean evil will win. Christ has already conquered death. Eternity is still secure, no matter how I feel today.
When everyone aboard a ship panics in a storm, somebody needs to be the one who isn’t panicking. Remember Jesus and the disciples out on the water? These were seasoned fishermen, terrified for their lives. What was Jesus doing?
He was asleep. They didn’t find that humorous.
They woke him, and he stood up with calm confidence: “Peace, be still.”
When people see confidence and hope in you while everyone else is rushing around the ship like it’s on fire, they ask questions. They want to know what you know that they don’t.
Peter says to answer with meekness and fear, reverence toward God. The goal is to point people to Jesus. Our answer should carry gentleness, rather than arrogance, hostility, or an attitude of winning a debate.
Peter also returns to our conduct and conscience. People may slander, mock, or misrepresent what we believe. But our lives should show whom we stand with: “I don’t have it all perfect, but I’ve submitted this to Jesus. I stand with him.”
I love a beautiful stained-glass window. From the outside, an old one can look dark and cloudy. From inside, when the light shines through, its beauty becomes visible. Trials can reveal Christ’s work within us in that same way.
Peter’s audience followed a Savior who suffered. If the cross teaches us anything, it teaches that God often accomplishes his greatest work through what the world sees as defeat.
This may not seem the most likely place to begin a series on evangelism. But where is your allegiance? It’s easy to say what we believe when everything is going our way. In those dark nights of the soul, when we can’t see even the next step, we have to ask: Who sits on the throne of my heart?
There are some practical things we need to be ready to explain. First, know why you believe God exists. You don’t need a philosophy or theology degree, but you need to know it in your own heart.
Second, be able to talk about the brokenness of the world. Most people have a real sense that the hurt and chaos around us are not the way things are intended to be. The Bible speaks to that brokenness and to sin’s place in it.
Third, know who Jesus is. Our faith stands or falls on him.
Finally, be able to tell your story. Why do you believe? How do you walk with Jesus? He is more than a historical figure or a God who is a cosmos away. We walk with him every day, through the joyous moments as well as the worst.
The world needs to see believers whose hope survives a crucible.
Perhaps you’re in one now, and your biggest question is, “How do I escape this ordeal?” Maybe another question is, “How can Christ be seen in me through this moment?” That doesn’t mean you have to like it or that it has to feel good. But when you see Christ doing something through our worst, it changes things. It could change the eternal life of someone else.
If Christ is not yet Lord of your heart, I invite you to surrender to him. If he is your Lord, be ready to answer the question the world is asking: “How can you still have hope? How are you still holding up?”
I’ll tell you one word: Jesus.
