Aspiring to hope

God has been teaching me a lot about four letter words lately. Now before you react negatively, hear me out. These words aren't curses, even though it might feel that way at times. Rather, three simple words (with much deeper meanings) God is teaching me to apply to my life at the present. I've already written about two of them, but I saved the hardest for last. So here they are -- the four letter words God has imprinted on my heart. Wait. Hope. Pray.

In the past few months God continues to use people, places, circumstances, books, movies, other media and His word to make me think about hope. It has been a recurring theme in my life. Everywhere I look, I'm reminded to hope. Hope is  stronger than fear, the vital ingredient for uniting people together for a cause. Without hope, dreaming is impossible, faith is futile. Waiting and praying become bearable burdens when hope is added to the equation. And, as a child of God, salvation brings the greatest hope of all -- the best is yet to come! I have access to a hope that never dies. (1 Peter 1:3) Today I was reading in Hebrews and came across the following passage:

"For God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love that you showed for His sake in serving the saints, as you still do.

And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness, 

to have the full assurance of hope until the end,

so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those, 

who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

~ Hebrew 6:10-12 ~

(ESV)

Speaking from experience, I can say that it is easy to grow weary of being faithful in the small things, while waiting for the next big thing to happen. Hope makes it possible to continue to be consistent, even amidst discouragement and doubt. Because I am looking ahead to what is promised, I am energized to serve regardless of my circumstances. God wants me to have the full assurance of hope, to shut out fear, doubt and regret and serve Him with wild abandon.

At first I thought I could only hope for one thing at a time. God has been teaching me that is a false concept and I need to let hope infiltrate all areas of my life. Recently He has asked me to hope for some pretty big things which seem impossible, humanly speaking. I must remember to delight myself in Him, trusting Him to fulfill the desires He has placed in my heart. Of course, this is much easier said than done, but the key is where I find my source of hope. I can't place my trust in someone or something, because I will almost certainly face disappointment. I need to hope in the One who has commanded me to do so, and forget about the seeming obstacles, choosing instead to trust His will for my life. Only then will I find true satisfaction and cease to be paralyzed by fear. Here's to a hope-filled year!

~Liz

"What do you do when God fills you with hope,

and then moves you into more hopeless circumstances?

You hope against hope.

When everything seems impossible, 

you remember that God doesn't bow to impossibilities.

You choose hope.

Against all hope, (you) hope anyway."

~ unknown