H is for Hope

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in him at all times, O people pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.”
Psalm 62:5-8

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”
Psalm 121

“Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.”
Joel 2:23

“Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
John 1:47-48

I have been writing this blog post for a while, and I think I have figured out now that it won’t ever be done. God is working in my life, so this blog post could go on forever. But it is at the point where I want to post it, so here it goes.

I am learning some things about hope.

Where does hope come from?
Hope comes from the Lord. When I hope in the Lord it means that I am trusting in him and leaning on him to take me through whatever is going on in my life.

When do I hope?
All the time. It is easiest to run to hope as a last resort, but hoping all the time is much better. When I hope in the good times I hope that God get glory through what is happening. When I hope in the hard times I hope God will get me through and that he will help me see why I am going through a hard time.

How do I hope?
I believe and have faith in the plans of the Lord. If I believe that all things are for my joy and the glory of God than I will find hope even when times are hard. If I have faith that Christ will get me through than I have hope.

What if all my hope is gone? Can more hope be cultivated?
If all hope is gone, pray. If you still don’t find hope, pray some more. God listens to prayer. Prayer encourages your heart because it teaches you dependence on the Lord. God can give you more faith and can strengthen your belief, so that you can have more hope. Prayer will help you to feel dependence, dependence will help you to have faith, faith will help you to believe, believing will help you to have faith.

The Psalm writer understands hope very well. He knows it is from the Lord. He knows with hope he cannot be moved. He knows hope in God will keep you going.

The Israelites in Joel have reason to be glad and hope in the Lord for what he has done for them in the past. If you reflect on your life you will see times of the grace of God and you can find hope in those times, so that you will have hope for today.

Jesus knew Nathanael’s heart. Jesus knows your heart. That should do one of two things in your heart. Make you uncomfortable and scared, or bring you hope and joy. If it brings you discomfort than you aren’t truly saved. If it brings you hope than you know that you are a sinner and you are saved by his grace. Jesus knows your heart. He knows when your happy, sad, in pain, rejoicing. He knows your heart.

Hope is a very hard thing to understand and to have. When I think about the times that I have had hope for a different outcome God has always shown himself. I love seeing God work in my life and hope helps me to see that. When I hope for one thing and God shows me another He does it for my good to increase my hope.

My Grandma died on Saturday. We aren’t sure if she died a believer. All we can do is hope and pray. We can hope that God did a work in her heart that we were not aware of. We can hope that at the end of her life she believed in Jesus Christ as her Lord Jesus Christ. We can pray that the Lord had mercy on her. We can’t bring her back. We can’t tell her the gospel now. We can’t do anything. It is the work of the Lord, whether or not she believed. Even though we have hope it doesn’t make it any less painful. She died and she could be suffering now in hell for her sin and unbelief.

How come I have hope, but not joy?
I think sometimes these two come together. When you hope in God it brings you joy to see what he does. When you have joy you are probably more likely to hope. I think sometimes these to things are separate. We might hope when we have no joy. When joy is the last thing on our minds we hope that we will have joy.

God works all things together for his glory and our joy. Even when it is painful to hope, God is working. Even when we are empty of hope, God is working. Even when we are full of hope, God is working. Even when we are empty of joy, God is working. Even when we are full of joy, God is working.

Shouldn’t those words alone bring me hope and joy?
YES! God is working in your life no matter where you are or what situation your in. God is working. That brings me hope. I don’t always sense his working, but I know he is because he promises too. God is good all the time, even when life seems so rough.

Hoping in the name of Jesus,
Greta