Scripture of the Day:
Galatians 5:5 (NIV)
“For by the Spirit and through faith we wait eagerly for a right relationship with God [ righteousness]—the object of our hope.”
Hope Discovery of the Day:
Our hope is temporary and futile if it is in hope alone, but when our hope is in the Author of hope, hope incarnate, then our hope is eternal.
I hope I get . . . I hope this happens . . . I hope, I hope, I hope . . .
Ever feel like we live this life going from one hope to another? Maybe the fulfillment of the hope we long for will finally bring us peace, joy, happiness. Maybe not. Hope in people, things or outcomes of this world are temporary and were never intended to be our hope.
Initially, this might feel like a bummer. Are we supposed to live dull lives and not hope at all? No, friend. Our good God is not like that. He just has higher hopes than we set for ourselves. The hope God wants us to have is different than that.
We can learn a lot from examining critters. If I try to offer my dog a carrot stick, his look says it all: “I don’t hope for that. I was not made for that.” I could argue and try to trick him into eating it, but he does not want carrots. At all. He wants bacon. Or meat.
We were made to know God. Made to hope in Him, but we often get tricked into hoping for lesser things. Some of them even “good” things, just not the best hope. And anything less than God’s best is counterfeit. While we chase after vain, temporal hopes, God is trying to get us to rise above our flesh and offers us Himself as our hope. As we ache to find relief in this life from hope this world offers, we miss the sweet rest we could find when we simply pause and rest in the hope He has already given us – a relationship with Him.
Our hope is temporary and futile if it is in hope alone, but when our hope is in the Author of hope, hope incarnate, then our hope is eternal. Though we will still have times of struggle in this world, right now we can have this abiding hope. He is our righteousness and as we draw nearer to Him, He makes us into His image.
When my hope is in God and in the beauty of knowing the Creator of this universe, I can find a secret joy when my earthly hopes are unsatisfied. When physical health struggles arise, when hurts threaten to snuff out hope, when hopes and dreams fall through, we can ask God to help us place our hope in Him and nothing else. Our compass realigned to true north, we are no longer tossed and turned by hopes that can disappoint. He. Is. Our. Hope. Amen!
Republished with permission from Blogs.crossmap.com, featuring inspiring Bible verses about Hoping in Hope or the Author of Hope – Denise Pass.
