According to the dictionary, "hope"=a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. I love the word hope. To me, it's that feeling of mystery; not knowing what's to come. It's exciting! To some people, hope may not always be exciting because you don't know what's going to happen on the other side of this mysterious feeling. It could be something bad. It could be life changing, in an inconvenient way. Instead, this exciting feeling turns to a bundle of nerves and anxiety.
The good news is hope is not intended for nerves, anxiety, and especially not for worry. Our personalities are so intricately designed that we have the privileged of feeling hope, the way God intended us to feel it. So, what does that look like?
Hope in the world = expectation
Hope in God = confident expectation
Whenever I think of confident expectation, I break it down as literally confidently expecting the Lord to act on my behalf. Does that mean that what I am hoping for will happen? Not always, BUT that's where the confidence really kicks in. I am confident in my Father. He will provide. He will take care of me. He knows everything I need. So, if what I'm hoping for doesn't happen, it's His will for it not to happen and I'm okay with that. Does it mean that what I'm hoping for will never happen? Not necessarily...
Romans 8:24-25: We were given this hope when we were saved. If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.
The Lord knows the desires of our hearts. He wants to fulfill those desires when the time is right to bring Him the most glory. If you know God has called you to do something or promised you something but it hasn't happened yet, confidently expect it will happen! Wait patiently and confidently.
Hope and trust go hand in hand and this is my prayer for you: Romans 15:13:
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hold on to what God's promised you. He is faithful. He will provide. You must trust and confidently hope and expect that He will act!
You always know what I need to read...geeze. Let me grab my tissues...............
Katie, you are a blessing in my life. God introduce me to an amazing person, who I call my friend and she lifts up my spirits when it is down. I thank God for you!
Y'all are too sweet! I love being able to share what's on my heart! Thank you :) :)