Hope in the Right Place
Have you ever hoped for something and been disappointed that you didn’t get it? Have you ever hoped for something that you thought God wanted for you and then got offended at God because He didn’t let you have it? If our hope is not in the right place, we can get very discouraged when we don’t get what we hope for. We can become disappointed and even bitter at God. Proverbs 13:12 NASB reminds us:
Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
Does God want our heart to be sick? I don’t think so. In this verse, Sick H2470 means “to be rubbed or worn, weak, sick, afflicted.” When we constantly hope in the wrong thing and repeatedly get disappointed because we don’t get the thing we hoped for, we get worn down. Being worn down leads to discouragement and soon we find ourselves not even able to hope in anything anymore. We give up hope. So it’s very important that our hope is IN THE RIGHT PLACE. Psalm 31:24 tells us where our hope should be:
“Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.” (Psalm 31:24)
Our hope is IN THE LORD. If we hope in something or someone besides Him, we will be disappointed, but if we put our hope in God, He will never disappoint us. Ultimately He knows what is best for us. I am retired now, but about 7 years ago when I was working as a Telehealth nurse, I applied for a promotion. Everyone in my department including my manager wanted me to get the position. I really put my hope into getting it. There was one part of the job that I especially wanted, being in charge of teaching nursing skills, but the rest of the job I was not that excited about, doing loads of administration. The decision was made by someone in a different department, and I was so disappointed when I found out that I did not get the job. Well, it ended up the person they picked could not do the teaching aspect of the job, so my manager chose me to do it. That was actually the only part of the job I really wanted, the teaching nursing skills part! God actually gave me something much better than I had in mind for myself. His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Hope in the Lord. This is really hard, but don’t put your hope in healing, a better job, a promotion (see my example above!), more money, because if you don’t get that thing, you will be disappointed. Your hope is in the wrong place. Instead put your hope in God, in His loving leadership in your life, in His love for you, in His leading as your Good Shepherd. He knows what is best for you. He knows what you need.
Job surely could not put his hope in anything around him-in his wife (she told him to curse God!), in his children (they were killed), in his cattle (they died), in his wealth (it was taken away from him), in his health (he was covered with boils), but He could put his HOPE IN GOD. God could have let Job continue on his journey, happy in his marriage, family, possessions, wealth and health, but God had something better for Job, something He wanted Job to learn. After all he went through, Job said to God in Job 42:5-6 NASB:
I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You;
Therefore I retract,
And I repent in dust and ashes.
Before all of Job’s misfortunes, He had only heard of God. When you hear of something, it is not based on your own experience; it is based on someone else’s experience. Someone sees something, then they tell you, but you don’t see it yourself. You only hear about it. Job said that after all he went through, he came to the place where his own eyes saw God. He didn’t just hear a report from someone else about God; he had a first hand experience- HE SAW GOD FOR HIMSELF. Apparently God thought that seeing Him was worth more than Job’s comfort. Now. let’s go back to Proverbs 13:12, even more so, let your longing, let your hope be for and let your desire be for GOD ALONE and it will be a tree of life for you. God will fulfill your longing with HIS PRESENCE.
So, moms, remember to
PUT YOUR HOPE IN THE RIGHT PLACE; PUT YOUR HOPE IN GOD.
In His Love,
Suzanne
Mom Morsels 