Power Of HOPE

Key Scripture:  “Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you that HOPE in the Lord.”  Psalm 31:24 Power Point: “Well, I HOPE so.”      You’ve heard people say that haven’t you?  In fact, you’ve probably said it a time or two yourself.  HOPE.  It has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?  When I think of that word, I think of a Christmas past when, as a child, I was hoping for a specific doll.  For the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, after my mom had carefully wrapped all the presents and placed them under the tree, I would “hunt” for what I was hoping for.  That particular Christmas would not have been complete without a “Tiny Tears” doll. Every Christmas Eve, we went to church, and before we went, I was allowed to open one present. Because of my weeks of scouting, I was pretty sure I knew which beautifully packaged gift contained “Tiny”.  Eagerly I reached for it and wrapping paper flew in all directions. I could barely wait to open the box but when I did I was stunned, (STUNNED!) to see a stupid black velvet hat with rhinestones and a purse to match. My mom had set me up.  She knew which one I would choose and, of course, she had planned for me to wear that stupid hat to church for my program. I did wear it, but not without a fight.      When we returned home from church wrapping paper again flew in all directions. I thought I had opened every present and I was getting sadder and sadder by the moment because “Tiny” had not shown up. Yet. Finally, my mom said, “Suzie did you not see the big present at the back?”  I hadn’t, or if I had, I hadn’t paid any attention to it because it didn’t look like it held a doll. Longer story short, I opened it.  It was a white cardboard suitcase and yes, inside was my “Tiny”.  Oh the joy!      I had had hope.  In fact, I was so certain that I would get “the answer to my prayer”, that I could hardly wait to open it. But it didn’t look quite like I thought it should. It was packaged differently so I ignored it.  The thing was, if I made a request for a specific thing for Christmas, I usually got it. My mom had a “history” with me of providing what I asked.  I was extremely confident. I had no doubt- until what I had asked for didn’t appear in the way I had asked for it.  I remember being so sad (and mad) that she had ignored me and bought me that stupid hat. My hope had taken a serious nosedive when what I THOUGHT was the answer to my prayer wasn’t- when what I had asked for didn’t appear at the  “right” time. The truth is that the answer was there all the time.  I just had to keep looking.     Beloved, HOPE in God is a certainty.  If you have a history with Him, you can be quite certain that He answers your prayers, even if those answers are delayed, or packaged differently than you expected.  Hope in God is joyful and confident expectation of GOOD. That means if you haven’t found your “Tiny” yet, you are still joyfully and confidently expecting and anticipating that it will arrive soon.      Can you imagine living in hope versus living without it?  Can you picture yourself as joyfully and confidently expecting Jesus, Who is the Author of our Hope, to answer your prayer, to supply your need, to bring you an abundance of His peace?     That is how we are to live as children of God, Beloved. Will you allow the “God of all hope to fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you might ABOUND in HOPE, by the power of His Spirit”? (Romans 15:13)  He wants to. He’s got your answer tucked under His arm waiting for the perfect time and place.  Will you trust Him for that? Will you be “hope-FULL”? I certainly hope so! Power Thought. You were once without hope, before Jesus came into your life. You don’t ever need to be without hope again do you? You might be interested to know that "It's Time To Power UP!", the book, is  available on Amazon.com.