Sometimes when I’m down, I’m hungry for hope. Following the disappointment on my part of a medical procedure I thought would end my cervical facet joint pain, I wrote these lines:
Longsuffering am I
But my Lord lavishes
Lovingkindness upon me
Headed for another surgery, I concluded both procedures I’d endured were diagnostic. Down in the dumps, hurting, an appointment with a surgeon was scheduled for March 20th. That doctor is the one I called in for at the beginning of January. Sigh. I’m hoping for pain resolution soon.
Pain continues for now. I remind myself hope and endurance are found in the Lord. Paul said later in Romans (12:12) that we are to rejoice in hope. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:13 that we can rest in hope.
Hope is a good Bible word to research. According to an article by David Jeremiah, the word occurs 150 times in Scripture.
Since Psalms is one of my favorite go-to books, I was convicted by Psalm 42:11. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Jeremiah also wrote “…hope is an attitude of certain joy based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and anchored in his soon return.”
I make a concerted effort to write about hope in my fiction. Hope of finding life’s individual path. Hope of doing right. Hope of growing as a character (person). Hope of meeting life’s soul mate. Hope of not embarrassing the Lord. Hope of a happily-ever-after.
My first blog this year was about anticipation. The second, hunger for the Word of God. To me, they both involve hope. Those topics involve trust. My core belief is faith in the God who saved me.
Hope and faith are linked. Faith is about right now. Hope involves the future.
I have faith that God oversees my steps for the day, blessing me with what I need at any given moment. I have faith that the internet will work and schedule this blog. I have faith that the Lord grants me the words I need to touch hearts He has prepared.
Hope goes a step beyond faith. I hope that whatever my words are, they encourage someone. I expect God to do whatever He chooses in any reader’s heart. Hope fills me with anticipation. The greatest hope of all is the fulfillment of my faith, which will be meeting Jesus face-to-face.
Faith and hope involve the spiritual. Both keep me alive.
The way I memorized Hebrews 11:1 is “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”