“My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my hope is from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation,
My refuge; I will not be shaken.”
Psalm 62:5-6 (NASB)
Series Focus: “Back to the Basics”
The uncertainties ahead seem to arise—and multiply—as each new day dawns. We’ve heard in the headlines repeatedly: “These are unprecedented times,” “Never seen before…,” and “Unheard of…” These attention-grabbing expressions scream into our lives, feed fear into our souls, and drive our thoughts to entertain the vast “what ifs.”
Our hope can be stripped in moments if we allow those alarms to enter our hearts. Proverbs, the book of wisdom, instructs us to guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23) and teaches if we put off our hope, our hearts become sick (Proverbs 13:12). Hope is crucial to our health, strength, endurance, and success. It provides the reason and the will to take the next breath, the next step, and do what we’re created to do each new day.
We can put our hope in many things. But there is only One who fuels the hope needed to stand in the face of the adversities of this life. Hebrews 10:19-23 (NASB) says:
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let’s approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
Regardless of the challenges each day brings, God assures us of our right and ability to enter into a personal relationship with Him, through Jesus, our great High Priest. Boldly, we can come to God with anything—everything—in our lives. He has graciously and mercifully made the way for us to fellowship with Him in this very present time, and to live eternally with Him. These truths are the foundation of our hope.
As we nourish our relationship with God, our hope grows and strengthens. Time spent in study, prayer, and worship produces greater understanding of His character, His ways, His passion. Our hearts soak and maturate in truth, and we unwaveringly come to know God is faithful forever. He is a promise-keeper! There is no variance in Him. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Great is His faithfulness!
No matter the unknowns before us and the rabbit trails of “what-ifs” thrown at us, we can confidently cling to the hope we have in God. Silence the noise. Guard your heart. Like the roots of a tree going down deep and spreading wide in the soil, providing stability, endurance, and strength, let’s develop our hope to be the same in our lives. Those roots lap up sustenance, furnishing life and producing fruit. May our abiding hope in God accomplish the same in us.
Holding Fast to Hope,
Maryann
Scripture References: Psalm 39:6-8, 62:5-6; Proverbs 4:23, 13:12; Lamentations 3:21-23; Matthew 6:25-33; Romans 8:24, 15:13; Hebrews 6:19, 10:19-23, 13:8; James 1:17; 1 John 4:16