Hope has been my heart cry in this season. In the tension of now and not yet. In the hope deferred. In the waiting. In the unseen. In the ups and downs of emotions.
I’ve seen and experienced much in my 50+ years of life. Like you, I’ve been on the mountain tops, in the low valleys and everywhere in between. But somehow this season has been different. My hope has been tested like never before. Maybe it’s exhaustion after several big waves these past three years. Maybe it’s empty nest. Or maybe I’m learning a new way to see the fingerprints of God when the clouds of life are dense.
It’s comforting to me that Abraham – the father of faith – experienced this testing of hope as well.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without wavering in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
Romans 4:18-21
Against all hope, may we in hope believe.
When our eyes see difficulty and delay, we’re faced with some choices:
- We can waver in our faith or stand strong in faith.
- We can ride the roller coaster of unbelief or take the Lord at His word.
- We can become hopeless and weak or find strength and encouragement in the Lord.
- We can question the goodness of the Lord in the dark times or be fully convinced that He has the power and desire to keep His promises to us.
- We can stay in an atmosphere of disappointment, or praise Him for what He has done and what He will do.
- We can fake it or face the facts.
Sometimes the facts are hard to face because they make the promises of the Lord look impossible. But impossibility is the Lord’s specialty. NOTHING is too difficult for Him. His thoughts and ways are different than yours and mine.
Hope is a gift and our confidence in the Lord fuels it.
After waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
Hebrews 6:15
Waiting patiently literally means suffering long. Nobody wants to talk about suffering but none of us will get through life without experiencing it. Jesus is able to sympathize with us because He was familiar with suffering as He walked this earth in humanity.
At the height of His suffering, Jesus set His eyes on joy as He endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2).
The next time hopelessness rears its ugly head, may we determine to find strength in the Lord. Let’s set the joy of His promises before us so that we, like Abraham, can have hope even against all hope.
In my current tension of hope and hope deferred it’s been a daily choice – at times a moment by moment one – to cast my cares on the Lord.
I have determined to stay in God’s Word. To interrupt my anxious thoughts and turn them into prayer. To call a friend I know will take the time to pray on the spot for me. To change the atmosphere around me by turning on uplifting music or taking a walk. To shift my focus and enter into thankfulness for what the Lord has done in the past.
To keep moving forward – following Jesus – NO MATTER WHAT.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12
What about you? How do you stay in hope when all hope seems against you?
