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Spaghetti for the Soul: A Feast of Faith, Hope, and |
Ok.. here is part 2 of my encouragement from Kathy Troccoli and Ellie Lofaro at Spaghetti For The Soul.
Hope does not disappoint. This tiny piece of Scripture has always confused me a bit and rankled. Hello… hope ALWAYS disappoints. Am I bitter? Yup. How often has this optimist hoped and been disappointed. To the point where I am choosing pessimism even when optimism begs to be let out to play. It hurts to be disappointed. Especially when it is consistent and repeated. And over a long period of time. Yeah… it rankles.
Kathy shed some light on this verse for me. She pointed out something that I knew.. this is the confusion part. Hope is a person… God. God is hope! Well… whoopdy doo… then God disappoints. Really. How often have I asked for something and been told “no.” Or where was He when… or why did He allow… You know what I mean. Yeah God disappointed me. Just like my kids were disappointed when I told them no candy as they were getting ready for bed. They were disappointed. They had hope. Was I wrong in saying no? Nope. Neither am I saying God is wrong. So… now what.
Here is what she said … and it clicked for me. Hope in God. It’s not just hope.. and it’s not just God.. it’s hope IN GOD.
Let me explain.
Where is my hope right now? What do I feel would make things good in my world? I hope Matt will come home from work in a good mood. I hope my kids will be obedient and respectful. I hope I won’t get sick… again. (These are just examples and it can fit anything you want to fill in there) These hopes get disappointed. Ok… so I pray these things… God says no and I am disappointed. In both of these examples, I am hoping in the wrong things. I am hoping in people and circumstances no matter how you spin it.
Hope in God. When I put my hope in God, it is no longer about Matt’s mood, or my kids attitudes, or even my health. It’s about Who He Is and my relationship, connection with Him. If what I want doesn’t happen.. that isn’t where my hope is. So if I can sit back and say to myself… what is it that I want right now that is making me down, discouraged, depressed, angry, frustrated… hopeless? If I can let that go into His hands… let Him bear the weight of it and just do the next thing He asks… let Him fill me with words of truth, life, and love and let other’s words slide off… if I can do that then I am hoping in Him and nothing can waver me.
It’s not about what comes at me in life.. it’s about the Life that lives in me.
Good stuff, huh? Now I just gotta put it into practice.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
So in essence, it is not hope that disappoints but our lack of continuing to hope or our misconstrued idea of hope. Perhaps. Deep reflections. I need to marinate in this. :>)
Shirley, you have no idea how much I needed to hear this today…my life has turned into one giant disappointment lately. This helped. Thanks.
Awesome, Shirley. I love this post… especially because I can relate so well!
Wow, Shirley this is great!! And today of all days I needed this reminder. Thank you so much for shariing your heart…I am always blessed by it : )
Great post. Now if like you said take the next step God asks me to take, and listen for His voice.