This post first appeared on InspireAFire: Our Losses Reveal Our Hope
Gone! I’d lost my Living Hope.
Three weeks of Bible study notes had vanished from my computer. Including my entire lesson on Living Hope that I was to teach in 36 hours.
The introduction to my lesson sprang back to my memory and convicted me:
Our losses reveal our hope.
I appreciated the irony.
I cried a little, but I still appreciated the irony.
All my notes were lost. But not my hope.
I’d learned enough while preparing the message to remind myself:
Never place your hope in anything you can lose.
I sighed. Deeply. And I teared up over the painful loss.
But I clung to my hope.
Where’s Your Hope?
My hope wasn’t in my notes or ability to deliver a great lesson. But it used to be.
It used to be in doing everything perfectly, which I rarely did. No wonder I spent a lot of time complaining and feeling depressed.
But over time, as God taught me through His Word and life, I learned I must hold all things loosely in my hands.
Except Him. I hold onto Him because He is holding onto me. He will hold me fast.
We may lose sight of God by magnifying our problems until they blind us. But if we belong to Him, we can never lose Him.
Declaring “My hope is in God alone” is great. But if we follow it with fretting over our losses, we can’t really say we believe the statement.
Go Ahead and Grieve. I did.
I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t grieve over a loss.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)
Grieving can be therapeutic and honors our loss as prized and valuable.
Fretting, however, is neither therapeutic nor honoring. But it is telling.
Fretting exposes the truth of where our hope lies.
It may also show us we don’t understand the true meaning of biblical hope.
Biblical Hope vs. Worldly Hope
Biblical hope means to wait with confidence. It’s based on a person, not circumstances.
The hope the world gives carries an undercurrent of Please! Oh, please! Oh, please!
I hope we win the game. I hope Mom doesn’t have cancer. Please! Oh, please! Oh, please!
Worldly hope holds its breath to see how things will turn out.
Biblical hope waits with confident assurance regardless of the circumstances because it waits on God, not results.
“For You are my hope; O Lord GOD, You are my confidence from my youth.” (Psalm 71:5)
How can we wait with assurance in an ever-changing world unless we base our hope on something (or Someone) unchanging?
The world may take away everything you own.
It can strip you of your health, wealth, and position in society.
It can take away your family, friends, and computer notes.
But it can’t take God.
He’s our sure foundation, as solid as He’s been since eternity past.
What are you hoping for today?
If what you’re hoping for falls through, will you grieve but stand strong, confident in God?
Or will your contentment crumble? Will your view of God disappoint you?
Our losses reveal our hope.
I hope yours is in God.
“And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.” (Psalm 39:7)
