Abounding Hope in Him

Hope
 /hōp/
 (to anticipate, usually with pleasure); expectation (abstractly or concretely) or confidence:— faith, hope.

I love that—anticipation with pleasure, a confidence—hope. I think that when we’re in hard seasons, especially being one like this that’s so unprecedented, hope is one of the most important tools we have, but often it’s the hardest to hold onto. We get caught up in the what-ifs, whys, fears, and eventually, go down what I like to call the toilet bowl of negativity.
 
Just last week, my family had a scare that someone in our family was exposed to the coronavirus. Thankfully, it was a false alarm, and he is okay. However, in those moments where I didn’t have the answers or any control in the outcome, I went down the toilet bowl. My mind was racing and hinged on “what if he dies?”. I was terrified, angry, and inconsolable. To be totally blunt, there was a part of me that wasn’t just angry at the situation, but at God too. I cried out to God on my back porch and said, “I don’t know if I can forgive you if he dies.”

My mind flashed back to a week prior: I had just listened to an old Wesley talk called Contending Prayer (highly recommend going back and giving it a listen!). One of Tammy’s main points was that we need to be a people who pray without offense. She talked about a friend that she prayed for in the hospital who was in a coma and dying, but she prayed with the confidence that when she opened her eyes, his would open too. He did not open his eyes and soon after he died. When he died, Tammy was heartbroken, but she was not devastated. Why? She believed God 1000% that her friend would not die, but her superior hope was not in the outcome, but the man, Jesus.
 
In that moment on my back porch, I had a choice to make: was I going to trust in the outcome or in Jesus and who He says that He is. I wanted the latter but didn’t know how to let go of my crippling fear. The Holy Spirit began to remind me of Scripture:

 “Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.” - Habakkuk 3:17-19 

“Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength;
 They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired,
 They will walk and not become weary.” - Isaiah 40:31

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” - Romans 15:13

He then reminded me of specific times in my life where He showed up. He reminded me in that moment that He is good; He is kind; He is for us. In His strength, I could hope for a miracle, but my ultimate hope would be in Him.

My prayer for you today is that your ultimate hope would be in Him—in Jesus and who He says He is. May His Spirit rest on you and remind you of who He is. May you not grow weary, but abound in the ultimate hope, Jesus.

Link to Contending Prayer talk:  https://subsplash.com/wesleymedia/messages/mi/+aweh8zj?autoplay=true

Author | Brooke DeLoach