Hope that does not Disappoint
So how do we hope in God? How do we make sure our hope is in the right place? This is so important, because having our hope in the right place means that we will not be disappointed. Remember that hope deferred makes the heart sick, causing us to be discouraged and down. God does not want that for us. We are reassured by Isaiah 49:23b New International version, which says:
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who hope in Me will not be disappointed.
The converse is also true-if our hope is in the wrong place, we will most likely be disappointed. If our hope is in the wrong place, then we are not trusting in God but in something else. Recently my husband and I were traveling and took a taxi while on vacation. The Taxi driver, Morty (name changed), told us that someone gave him a copy of the book of John from the Bible and that he keeps it in the front seat of his taxi “for a blessing”. He said he reaches over and touches the book and it gives him “a blessing” by touching it. He has never read the book. He says he doesn’t understand it. Morty’s hope is in the wrong place. He is using the book of John like a charm, something magical to give him a mystical blessing, when the real blessing is inside the book of John, placing his hope in God, not a copy of His book. We got to talk with Morty and encourage him to read the book and told him that God would help him understand it. We prayed for him-his wife has cancer-and when we left he said God sent us to encourage him, because he had been down that day but felt better after our talk. His hope was now in the right place!
Hoping in God means trusting in Him, waiting on Him for His timing. We see in Lamentations 3:22-26 NASB one way of hoping in God:
The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I have hope in Him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.
We hope in God by letting Him be our portion, by being in His presence. We hope in God by reminding ourselves that God is good! Sometimes it is so hard to wait on God! His timing is so vastly different than our timing. His perspective is eternal, ours is not. But while we wait for His timing, putting our HOPE fully in Him, we can seek Him. We know He loves us and is a GOOD SHEPHERD to us. We can trust Him, therefore we can hope in Him.
We make sure our hope is in the right place, by staying in His Word, the Bible. I find so much encouragement in the Scriptures! When I am down or discouraged, I get myself in the Word and God encourages me again and helps me refocus on putting my hope in Him. Romans 15:4 NASB teaches us:
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
It does take perseverance to keep our hope in God. Worldly thinking will try to make us take our eyes off Him, but the Scriptures will help us get our eyes back on Him again. God the Holy Spirit also helps us keep our hope in the right place. Romans 15: 13 NASB says:
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hope must be important if God calls Himself “the God of Hope”! We abound in hope by “the power of the Holy Spirit.” Jude 20 tells us that praying in the spirit builds us up, encourages us, and this will help us keep our hope in God. So if you are disappointed, do a check on yourself and make sure your hope is in God, not in something else, because
WHEN YOU HOPE IN GOD, YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.
In His Love,
Suzanne
Mom Morsels 