How to hope in God

Hope in God for my heart will still praise Him.

The Psalms are filled with David lamenting his circumstances. And he certainly had plenty to be down about!  Saul out to kill him, running for his life, waiting for his appointed time as king, enemies all about him.  

But what is so wonderful about David is that no matter how much he kvetches to God, He always ends up praising and thanking God in the midst of his awful circumstances (see Psalm 43:5, for one).

Do we do the same?  If only!

How do you get unstuck from emotions of disappointment, doubt, fear, and worry when the "hits just keep coming?"

Hope in God.

Three little words but packed with power and punch.

My hope is not in my paycheck, thank you doubt and fear.

My hope is not in how others treat me, thank you disappointment.

My hope is not in being successful, thank you comparison.

Nope.  If I hope in any of these, I will never know true and lasting peace.  Why not?  Because each and every one is temporary and could change or be taken away in a heartbeat.  Our soul knows this deep down and therefore cannot have true rest inside if we are counting on these things or people to hope in.

But I don't know about you, but I need practical ways - things I can do and practice - not just words on a page.

So exactly how do we hope in God?

He is unchanging.  Unlike our circumstances, people, money, etc., God is not going anywhere.  He remains the same.  His stability is immovable and unshakable.  He truly is a Rock.  

So when we hope in Him, we are "banking" on His immutability, His strength, His solidness.  We are looking to His character which is fully good, true, loving, kind, strong, not to mention omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.  

A visual that may help us is this:  we take our bodes and place them in His huge hands.  We stay there.  We rest there.  We trust Him there.  We curl up and relax there.  Ahhhh.  For that is exactly where He holds us - in the palm of His awesome and wonderful hand.

Under His wings, our cleft in the rock, a mighty fortress - so many wonderful pictures of His strength and character!

Hope has power.  It may seem nebulous, but it can be very tangible when placed in the right Person.

We also see Him ever before us, because He is.  We see Him surrounding us, because He does.  We see Him by our side, because He's there, too.  And we know that He also lives inside of us - a power that we can draw on to be filled with hope.

He is hope!  He is the God of hope!  He bestows hope!

It is a bit hard to put into words, but I'm trying!  I hope I'm getting across to you that this hope that we have in Christ is really the only real hope in life.  It is an endless source that we can draw on at any time.  It is more powerful than the universe itself because it is eternal.

Are you afraid to hope because you've had your hopes crushed so much in the past?  Been there and don't want to "do that" any more!

That's because we had misplaced hope.  We were hoping in a person, place, or thing to give us what we need instead of the only true Hope - the Lord Jesus Christ.

My prayer for you is this: