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Faith Column: What are you hoping for?

 

Hope is elusive, fragile, precious, and intangible, yet we have hope for so many things in life…a favorable outcome of health, employment, or financial issues for ourselves or people we care about often remain tucked away in our hearts and shared with those we are closest to.

We all HOPE for things that we can’t make happen on our own. If we can do it ourselves, we don’t have to hope for it…we can get it or make it happen. When we have to rely on someone else for help, we hope they will not let us down.

Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary says hope means “to cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen or be true; to desire with expectation of obtainment or fulfillment; to expect with confidence.”



“To expect with confidence”… in what? Or whom? It seems hope for everything dependent upon human endeavor, human partnership, human strength, human effort (etc.) can only go so far, will only work until …something goes wrong! Then we must adapt, adjust, rethink; maybe even start over.

Is it possible to find something or someone worthy of our hope, our confident expectation?



Yes. The Bible is full of stories and songs (the Psalms) about One who is worthy of our faith, trust, love and hope. Many of the Psalms in the Bible were written by people who were going through very difficult times; when all hope was lost because their human endeavors and partnerships had failed. Here is a brief sampling of what they found:

Psalm 39:7 And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.

Psalm 62:5 My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my hope is from Him.

Psalm 71:5 For You are my hope; Lord God, You are my confidence from my youth.

The book of Hebrews makes an interesting connection between faith and hope. Chapter 11 verse one says, “Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.”

Faith in the God and His Word is not misplaced or pointless. It seems to me the biblical perspective of HOPE is Help Obtained (by) Pragmatic Expectation of the Lord’s care and protection based on His revelation of Himself in His Word. Another psalmist said, “Commit your future to the Lord! Trust in Him and He will act on your behalf.” (37:5)

Even when the circumstances and situations of my life do not work out as I expected or hoped, I know He is acting on my behalf, and I am going to be OK. My hope is not for an expected outcome, anticipated event, or achieved goal. My hope is in the goodness of the Lord and reality of His love.

Victoria Van Couvering, Executive Director of Hope Pregnancy Center in Craig.

However, to keep this hope, I need to maintain a connection with my “church family” who pray for me and remind me of God’s love and faithfulness.

If you haven’t found your place of peaceful faith and hope, I encourage you to “commit your future to the Lord” and find your own church family to be a part of for fellowship, encouragement and service to others. One of the wonderful blessings coming out of the COVID pandemic is online local church services. I encourage you to look over the list of churches in the Craig Press choose one and visit online or in person this Sunday. I am confident the Lord will help you find Him there.

Victoria Van Couvering is the Executive Director of Hope Pregnancy Center here in Craig. You can reach her at info@yvcenter4hope.org.


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