Day 2 of 31 Days of Hope-filled Living. In case you missed Day 1, go back and start here.
“So, Lord, what hope do I have? You are my hope.”
– Psalm 39:7
When it all comes down to it, God is the ultimate source and fulfillment of our hope.
The context of this verse is a very discouraged King David. In previous verses he mentions feeling like his life was short and meaningless, and also as if God was punishing him. This song may have been written after his moral failing when he had an affair with a woman named Bathsheba and then had her husband, Uriah, killed in battle. At the end of the day and after all was said and done with sin, discouragement, consequences, and meaninglessness … all David had left to hope in was God.
Have you ever felt that way? Like your life was an endless cycle of trying and failing, and like everyone around you was trapped in the same endless cycle too? If so, you’re not alone. And let your fellow humans’ company in this discouraging place bring you a smidge of hope, Dear Reader. We all at one point or other, or even at many points in life, find ourselves running low on sources of hopefulness, and find our eyes looking to heaven when this view on earth becomes bleak. When hoping in others leads to let-down, when hoping in circumstances leads to disappointment, when hoping in money or things or career or self leads to emptiness, we realize the truth which was beside us all along: God is our hope. His unfailing love, kindness, and eternal salvation are the only sources and destinations worthy of our hope.
God is our hope.
“Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.”
– CS Lewis
A famous and rich rock star in a metal band called Korn had all of the money, attention, and material belongings he could want. His name is Brian “Head” Welch and, addicted to methamphetamines, heroin, and cocaine, he reached the end of himself when he realized that the one thing he wanted most was to be a better father to his young daughter. Brian’s realtor shared a verse with him, Matthew 11:28, and invited him to church a couple of weeks later. He quickly gave his life to Jesus and was able to break off his addictions. As many wealthy and famous people eventually find, he realized that possessing all the world offered still left him empty, and only God could give him hope.
If you’re feeling like you’ve come up empty after searching high and low for hope, maybe it’s time to turn your gaze upward. God can and will help you with your difficult situations, but even more hopeful is the truth that He is building an eternal home for you where you’ll never face discouragement or pain, where He will be with you as a friend, face to face. Isn’t that something to put a smile on your face and a flutter in your heart?
Hope How-to: Talk to God today with your voice or your journal about anything or anyone who has let you down recently, and about how you feel or were feeling. Then tell Him why you’re hopeful for your eternity with Him. What are you looking forward to about being a part of the Kingdom of Heaven? Praise Him for being the unfailing hope you look to when all else withers away.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray for my Reader today and ask whether her hope in you is strong or fading, You will remind her that she has much to hope for in eternity with You. Thank you for Your faithful love and provision, and for fighting our battles. We long for victory over the temptations and deceptive lusts for the things of this world. Show my reader today that even at the end of her rope, when all other hopes have fallen short, her hope is still found in You and in You alone. Help her to keep one eye on Your faithfulness in her life today, and the other on your faithfulness for her eternity. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.
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with love from my Nest,