Hope in Front of Me


Romans 15:13 (CEB)-May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
You know how you start thinking about something and then see the topic everywhere?   Hope has been that recurring theme for me lately. It started a few weeks ago when I got a text while doing the dishes.

I heard my phone ding, but I finished the dishes before I checked it.  The quiet afternoon allowed time to daydream and my mind wandered to what would be the best text I could hope for. When nothing came to my mind right away, I realized I don’t often live with hopeful expectation that something good could happen.  After washing a few more dishes, I came up with a few things I am hoping for in my life.

Later on, I wrote down a few of these hopes.  I think hopes are often ideas that God has put in our hearts.  Martin Luther said, “Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.” The life I live now has been shaped by things I first hoped and prayed for. It’s good to remind myself of this when being a mom, wife, and teacher feels hard!   
I compared the hopes I have now to these questions I found to see if they are God given dreams:
A few of mine do seem to be God given dreams.  The process of how they are shaping me is already happening if they are in my heart. Oswald Chambers said, “God is not working toward a particular finish—His purpose is the process itself. “.The process matters most because when I have gotten what I wanted, it has never gave me the life long happiness and satisfaction I thought it would.  It’s a trap to live with the attitude, “I’ll be happy when…” because it's just not true.

Goals and dreams can push us to try new things, grow, and deepen relationships, but we’re warned that they can become too important.  Martin Luther said, “Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.”  
I am praying to fully depend on God to lead and light my path through the process.  I must  trust His timing and His ways.  I have to remain hopeful even when the situation starts to look hopeless because hope believes that God is not done.

David and Abraham had hope to believe that God was not done working in their lives.  They both prayed and believed things would get better.  Romans 4 describes the hope of Abraham.
  • Romans 4:18- There was no hope that Abraham would have children, but Abraham believed God and continued to hope. And that is why he became the father of many nations. As God told him, “You will have many descendants.”[a]
  • Abraham knew he and his wife were too old for children, but his faith in God never became weak.  He never doubted that God would do what he promised. He never stopped believing.
  • In fact, he grew stronger in his faith and just praised God because he felt sure that God was able to do what he promised.
  • 22-So that’s why “he was accepted as one who is right with God.”
  • 23-These words (“he was accepted”) were written not only for Abraham. 24-They were also written for us. God will also accept us because we believe.
Abraham hoped for children, but his hope was in God.  Danny Gokey wrote about this kind of hope in his song ‘A Hope in Front of Me’:
You're my hope
You're the light, I still see it
Your hands are holding me
Even when I don't believe it
I've got to believe
I still have hope
You are my hope
Danny wrote the song to proclaim that he still had hope in God so he could hope for better days ahead after the death of his wife.  He explains that his song was inspired by what David said in the Psalms, "Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him." Something good is on the way. David wasn't in a great situation when he said that. Hope is something that you possess in your heart instead of the physical realm. Hope is about believing a better day is coming.”
“Life might not always makes sense. There's no justice in it and sometimes it might not seem fair, but it's not the end of the road. Turn the page. Move forward and keep putting your life in God's hands. There is always hope ahead.”
I pray that my hopes and dreams are what God wants for my life and are being shaped by Him.  I  pray to live with the understanding that my hopes in this life will never fully satisfy so my overflowing hope must be in God and the eternal life He promises.  1 Corinthians 15:19-21 reminds us,” If our hope in Christ is good only for this life, we are worse off than anyone else.  But Christ has been raised to life! And he makes us certain that others will also be raised to life.  Just as we will die because of Adam, we will be raised to life because of Christ”


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