Faith and hope have been a tricky thing for me. I have said, on more than one occasion, “I’ve got faith, and I’ve got love, but hope is a little hard to come by.” I have been gifted with a considerable amount of faith, so I always believe in the goodness of God. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, I know that God will make a way and take care of me.
But faith does not create hope. I have no idea what God is going to do, and so sometimes I struggle to know what to hope for. This past week, my pastor talked about hope. He explained that there is a difference between being hopeful about something and placing your hope in that thing. Jesus is the only thing that can fulfill my hopes because he is the only thing that will never let me down.
Here is a link to that sermon, if you would like to hear it in my pastor’s words. It is an excellent sermon about hope in the midst of loss, but if you only have a few minutes, I recommend watching from the 20-minute mark and watching for five to seven minutes.
My prayers for many years have centered around situations that seem hopeless to me or situations where I do not see a way. I have faith that God is going to answer those prayers in a way that is beyond my comprehension. If I am going to stick with that kind of faith, I better get used to having hope that does not know what the answer will look like.
When you pray for miracles, you have to be willing to hope for something miraculous!
So, I am learning that hope does not have to know what it is looking for. But what about the times when I do know what I am hoping for? This is the other side of hope that I struggle with. Somewhere along my Christian journey, I started believing that things that I want are automatically selfish and sinful. In my effort to avoid letting something become an idol, I became afraid of everything I ever wanted.
I told my therapist that I believe God is answering my prayers for a particular situation, but I felt guilty because I was getting something I wanted. I am afraid that if I get something I want, it means that it is more important to me than the God who is giving to me. That is not true. Of course, there is a danger of those things becoming idols, but just because God blesses me with my heart’s desire, that does not mean it is an idol.
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” It is okay for me to have confidence in the things that I have hoped for. Jesus is the first desire of my heart, but He can fulfill all of my other hopes and dreams, as well. I refuse to let guilt stop me from enjoying the blessings that my God wants to give me.
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