Hope

I woke up singing this song, and its been running through my head all day:

GREAT IS THE LORD
GREAT IS THE LORD
For we know Your Truth has set us free
You've set Your hope in me

Hope. It's been a theme. Yesterday I glanced at one of the verses on the back of my door. Romans 12:12. "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and constant in prayer."

Rejoice in hope? Why? Hope isn't the fulfillment of my desires. It's not "the end" when everything's figured out. It's still "in the middle." In the mess. In the chaos. How am I expected to rejoice when I don't know what's going to happen?

Ah, but there it is. I rejoice because I CAN have hope. Hope that things will get better. Hope for redemption. Reconciliation. New things. Unbelievers can't. They have nothing to hope in. Things for them are downwards spiraling...and quickly. They can wish. Or desire strongly. But to HOPE...there must be something to hope IN. Something beyond yourself. Something bigger than you. Stronger. More powerful. Something in control that can change things. That can change me. And my God is just that, and more.

Not only CAN I have hope...I DO have hope. Why do I have hope you ask? Two main reasons:

First, the Gospel. God, my Maker and my Creator, has pursued me when I was dead in my transgressions-- helpless to do ANYTHING to change my state before Him...when I was covered in sin...guilty. Ashamed. It was THEN that He sent His own Son to bear my punishment and endure His just wrath so He could treat me as His daughter. Ah, Scripture says it best, "He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?" I can hope because EVERYTHING falls under the category of "all things." I am without nothing. He is holding no good thing back from me. Even if it seems good to me, I can trust that, in fact, He knows better. And is wiser than I.

And also, Psalm 130. "I hope in Your Word." Moments after thanking the LORD that I had hope to rejoice in, I read on my closet..."I hope in Your Word."

Wow. How many promises are there in Scripture that promise my good? Hundreds. How many times does Jesus say, "I am with you"? Loads. When it says that "those who hope in Him will not be put to shame"...that's a promise. And I can bank on it. With all that I am and all that I have. Not with questions and wondering. He is faithful and to be fully trusted.

So hope. And rejoice! You have Hope!