As each year draws to its end, I look back and review. My biggest question is, have I seen the changes in my circumstances I’ve been praying for? In other words, has God moved in my life?
My life as a single parent has significant daily challenges that constantly remind me my position in life is not where I expected to be. These challenges aren’t evident to others and that can be isolating. A burden at times.
But there is one person I know who sees me, who knows what I go through, understands me and is able to guide me. He is always there, ready to engage.
He is the one who made me.
Strangely, one of the things that stops me from engaging with Him at times is one of the greatest gifts He gives that I need most.
One of my biggest challenges of living with hope is of waiting for that hope to be fulfilled! Unfulfilled hope can bring despair if it's a long time coming.
Strange as it may seem, hope can be a challenge. The bible teaches that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). It teaches that without vision people perish (Psalm 29).
The root word of HOPE in Greek means to expect with confidence, to anticipate with pleasure. There is no implication of doubt, as in the meaning of hope in English today.
It’s vital to live with a sense of hope in God; a knowledge that He is able to turn things around in our lives where we cannot change things ourselves. But when that goes on and on and its despair that comes instead of fulfilment, we need to secure our tent pegs and remain steadfast in hope. Resolve ourselves to our belief in the character of God - that He will never let us down.
Hope is important, but fulfilled hope is where the evidence of things hoped for brings completion of joy.
My prayer every day is, ‘Today Lord, let this be the day you fulfil your promises to me. Today Lord, let this be the day you show me your victory.’
When you’re praying that way every day for ten years, you have days where you question the fulfilment of what you’re hoping for! You have to - have to - have to - resolve not to give up and be able to see the signs of the fulfilment of hope in the small victories along the way. You have to live with a heart and a prayer of surrender.
I dig wells of hope right on the door of my trouble. Reservoirs of hope that I go swimming in every day as I bring my despair to God. I make an exchange and determine to resolve myself in the hope God places inside me. When God places a hope inside us, we have to refuse to allow our minds to despair. Hope placed by God is placed in our spirit and should not be denied. It's easy to remember all the hardships we've endured, our state of feeling like a million broken pieces. But the only reason we should be allowing ourselves to go there is if we thank God for how He's brought us through, and what He's working out in us now. Be joyful, not doomful. He has brought us through so much. He will continue to.
Romans 5:5 (BSB)
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
We have to transfer that to our minds, and decide whether we are going to believe this or not. If we sit on the fence, we are in a place of unbelief. Unbelief does not bring fulfillment. So, as I tell myself, nurture the hope of what God’s placed inside you.
One of the scriptures I’ve carried for a long time is this:
Hosea 2:15 (AMP)
“Then I will give her her vineyards from there, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope and expectation [anticipating the time when I will restore my favor on her]. And she will sing there and respond as in the days of her youth as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
Today, if you’re treading through a personal Valley of Achor (a personal valley of trouble), reflect on the reason Jesus Christ came as a baby. This is a spiritual mystery and a spiritual truth. He came to take back His rightful inheritance – that’s you and that’s me.
The astrologers who followed the brightest star in the sky at the time of Jesus birth, having known the prophesies of a Saviour coming to the world, travelled to find Him. They didn’t stay where they were and wonder about it. They pursued Him. These astrologers are referred to as wise men. It meant enough to them that they left the comfort of their homeland and together, thought about, and brought offerings to honour the Messiah they were hoping in. The vision of their belief sustained them through their long, uncomfortable journey. It encouraged and guided them to their destination. And then they found the fulfilment of their hope!
Whatever we’re seeking from God, if we hold our vision close and keep hoping, believing, and letting that sustain us through our valley of trouble, it will eventually become our door of hope and we will be able to walk into vineyards.
Most importantly, through our valley of trouble, what we need to be seeking beyond our circumstances, is the Saviour that gives us our hope. He plants His hope in us and when He has given us hope, we can be sure He is able to guide us with the light that is no longer a star, but now Jesus Himself, towards our destination.
God can show us His hope in our circumstances in all sorts of ways. All along the way, He is able to bring evidence of things we hope for in our lives to ensure we are traveling towards our destination. It might be through scripture, a song, perhaps through something someone said, or something we see, maybe an experience. It can be through dreams and the Holy Spirit speaking directly to us. However we receive His messages of hope, we need to agree with whatever He is indicating, and if the situation calls for it, be obedient to what He tells us to do.
One of the ways the Holy Spirit talks to me is through dreams. I had a dream last night and I woke up with a Psalm that, in the dream I couldn’t remember, so when I woke up I had to go and read it and write it down. It was a very clear affirmation for where I’ve been placing my hope.
I pray that you will have hope today. Don’t let your hope be deferred. Ask God to reveal and keep revealing hope to you, and then believe, and keep believing in its fulfilment. Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of our eternal hope but He wants to bring us hope in our circumstances too.
What else can we believe in that is more hopeful than God’s hope? Choose this day to resolve your hope in God.