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.  Christmas would not be complete without a “Tiny Tears” doll. Every Christmas Eve, we went to church. 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.  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. Yet 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 discovered the answer to your prayer you can still be confident that He is faithful.  He has promised and He will bring it to pass.
     Sometimes the trials of faith can seem overwhelming can't they? Sometimes they threaten to submerge us altogether beneath the waves of uncertainty.
You can REST in this truth:  God is faithful.  He always has been and He always will be.  In every troubling valley, He has a door of HOPE with an exit sign over it.
As you trust Him, He'll lead you out of trouble into hope, into the place that He had prepared for you all along.  (Hosea 2:13,15).
Joyfully and confidently expect His goodness and faithfulness to lead you out of trouble into hope.

Power Thought:

All the promises of God are "YES! and AMEN!" Is that what you are expecting?