It's All About Hope

I'm back! And you didn't even know I was gone!

It was a quick trip but well worth the drive. Last Friday I packed my bag, threw it in the trunk of my old car and headed west on I-10--some 480 miles. I got to Houston early enough to avoid the worst of the traffic, then savored every minute I was able to spend with my first born. In case you didn't know, my daughter is getting married in a couple of months, so some friends of the groom's family gave her a bridal shower on Saturday. We had a great time and she got some nice gifts. I tried to talk her out of some of them, but she informed me that I didn't have room for them. She's right, but I would like that griddle--if I had a place to use it.
Time with my adult children is one of life's greatest blessings.

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I left you the other day, hoping to make another "word" post. It didn't happen. That's how it is sometimes--things happen as we would like and then sometimes they don't. So what do we do when things aren't going just like we want?

Flashback

One day, during a very low time in my life, when all things concerning me seemed wrong, sad, and doomed for destruction, I was sitting at my desk at work, thankful for my cubical walls that kept co-workers from noticing my tears. I don't remember everything that was going through my mind at the time, but apparently the Holy Spirit was interceding for me because the Lord spoke to me. He said, "It's all about hope."

The message struck me hard. I had lost hope that my circumstances would improve. I felt trapped, helpless, empty--everything negative. It was a horrible feeling, hopelessness.

I wrote that sentence down on a piece of note paper and placed it on my desk where it was sure to be in my way--sure to be constantly before me, speaking to me again and again. I needed time to digest those words. It's all about hope. What did they mean and what was I to do about it all?

Today

Several times lately God has placed this word before me, so I'm sharing it with you as my word for today. Hope.


Defined: Expectation and desire combined. (I love this definition.)

So much of the time we have a desire for something, and we call that desire hope. For example, remember my last post? I hope I win the book give-away. I desire to win, but honestly, I don't expect to win. So my hope is weak and easily shaken. I think the drawing for the book is on the 7th. I bet that the 7th will come and go, and I'll not think about the book I didn't win until some day when I'm getting caught up on reading my favorite blogs and I come across a post on Lisa's page telling who the winners were. I really don't have much hope about the book, do I?

Concerning life's big stuff, the important things that matter the most--if we desire without expectation, we easily get discouraged and give up our desire. We lose hope.

So the secret of living a life filled with hope? Live expecting to receive those things we desire. I'll admit--easier said than done sometimes.

The other day as I drove home from the gym I saw a sign that read, "The man who has hope, has everything." I'm going to write that down because it is true. And I'll add to it the words God placed in my heart, "It's all about hope."

Yes, I think today it is all about hope. Psalm 38:15 says, "For I hope in Thee, O Lord; Thou wilt answer, O Lord my God." The only one we can take our desires to with expectations of fulfilment is the Lord our God--our Living Hope. (See 1 Peter 1:3-9)

Today of all days (election day) we need to hope. We need to pray with a desire so sincere that God will be moved to act on our behalf. And we need to pray, expecting that God can and will be all-powerful, all-knowing, and merciful.

And no matter the outcome of the vote, we must not lose hope. For without hope we will perish on our own, no enemy needed. We must make Psalm 38:15 our heart's cry. Remember we DO have hope. And that hope's name is Jesus. It's all about HOPE, and the man who has HOPE has everything.