Hold Onto Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him
so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(Romans 15:13 NIV)

The Bible instructs us to hope. But how? What do you do when you have reached the point of giving up and just don’t have it in you to hope any longer? I always thought I had to somehow dredge this hope up myself.

Reading the scripture above for about the twentieth time, it suddenly dawned on me. The words I was missing were “by the power of the Holy Spirit.” It’s not my job to go digging for hope and then try to hold onto it with bloody fingernails; it is the work of the Holy Spirit. By His power, not mine. Suddenly it became so much easier. Now I pray for the Holy Spirit to fill me with hope, instead of trying to dredge it up and keep it going by sheer willpower.

Trusting Him and holding on to hope, however, can be tortuous, especially when you are praying and waiting and nothing seems to be happening. But always remember, it may seem like He is doing nothing, but under the surface, He is working and moving things into place to fulfil your desires and bring His plan for your life to fulfilment.

The Israelites were facing an ocean on one side and a horde of angry Egyptians on the other. They were rightly terrified, but what they couldn’t see was God’s hand about to provide a dry path through the water to the other side.

When the next generation arrived at the Jordan River, the priests were instructed to carry the ark and march directly into the river. Joshua told them God would open the river as soon as they stepped into it. Usually the Jordan River is only about a hundred feet wide, but it was at flood stage, which could easily make it a mile wide. It must have taken great faith and an expectant hope to take that first step because they could not see God working upstream stopping the water flow.

Of course, there is a caveat to praying and asking Him for something. Your desires need to be in line with His Word. You can only be sure of your hope if you know it is in alignment with His Word. Remember, too, that His ways are not our ways. You need to trust and believe God knows what is best for you, and that His will always stems from His love.

Sometimes, even though our desires may be in line with His Word, God may still not fulfil them in the way we expect. However, even though He may not always give you what you want in the way you want, you can be sure He will give you His absolute best.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV).

Ask God to clarify your desires and then rest in His goodness.

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4 NKJV).

“No other religion, no other, promises new bodies, hearts, and minds. Only in the gospel of Christ do hurting people find such incredible hope” (Joni Eareckson Tada).