Isaiah 49:23. “Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”
Romans 12:12. “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

The concept of hope keeps coming up these days everywhere I turn. I’ve always thought hope was such an ambiguous term. God is slowing changing that point of view and beginning to put skin on that skeleton.

This word hope has come up in our devotionals, in scripture, in songs, even in our school day with writing papers.

So I am paying attention and asking God to show me more about how to have hope, why He is our hope and how to reflect His hope to others.

Many in this world don’t even know what the true meaning of this word means.

Let me start with the basics. Hope is a promise of God.

This is what I read from Sylvia Gunter’s devotional the other day. It resonated with me.

The presence of the Holy Spirit lives in you, filling you with assurance that God cannot disappoint you. Be blessed with confidence that the sovereign Lord of your life is in charge of your circumstances. When expectation delays, when your hope is waiting without fulfillment, when disappointment tries to overwhelm you, you can have confidence in your Father, because you know that He is in control. He is Lord; He can’t get it wrong. When you are tempted with hopelessness, your Father says that those who wait for him, those who hope in Him, will never be put to shame.

The psalmist said, “One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving” (Ps 62:11-12). Your confidence in Him will never disappoint you, because He is strong and loving. Be blessed with security and safety because your hope is anchored in your Father’s unchanging love and strength. Be blessed with the truth of Psalm 16:5-6. “He is my portion… He maintains my lot.” Your Father’s eyes are on those who hope. Be blessed to submit your soul to him, because your soul will ask the wrong questions. The question is not “Why?” Be blessed with asking your Father the right question as your gaze is fixed on Him. The right question is “How?” Be blessed with knowing that He is your “how.” Be blessed with this dialogue with your soul. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I hope in Him!” (Lam 3:24).

God dwells with those who hope in him, and he is enough. Your Father speaks hope to you, hope in Him that does not disappoint, because He dearly loves you. Be blessed in God’s promise that the desire He gives leads where He wants you to go: learning to endure, developing strength of character, in confident expectation of seeing the glory of His purposes for you and in His joy in hope. Jesus is your promised hope.

Receive the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 1:18-21. “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given…” You are seated in heavenly realms in hope, in the name of your glorious Father.

Hope is what we hold on to when everything else fails. Hope is seeing Jesus walk on water and whether we have ever done this before or not, we step out of the boat to try to reach for Him.

Some days, I understand hope…some days it really is hard to grasp.

We have gone through the gambit of emotions these last 5 months. Many days if you were to walk through the doors of our home the mornings are filled with hope. We know that joy comes in the morning. It is a brand new day. We have a plan for the day and are ready to strike out to tackle it.

By the time late afternoon comes, and we are moving rather slow. As the sun starts to set {rather early, I’d say these days}, we begin to feel overwhelmed and tired. We struggle to find hope.

They say this is a normal part of the process of recovery. I am beginning to tell myself this over and over by 5pm every day. I am not the one walking out the healing but I am apart of the team.

God planned nighttime for us to recover the energy and sleep we need to start again tomorrow. It was apart of His plan. I am so grateful for this part of His order.

I have so more on this subject of hope that the Holy Spirit has been revealing – more than I can write today. I’d like to share it with you in the coming days.

I am headed to start our day off. Wake up my sleeping girls and begin our day with the HOPE that God has given us.

Today is His day.

Leaving you with this song that has played hundreds of times in the last month in our house! The words are just SO powerful! Let it fill you with hope today!

Be blessed in the name of the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,
so that you may know your Promise of hope (Eph 1:17).