Perhaps one of the greatest casualties that result from a difficult life situation is the loss of HOPE. Hope is a powerful force. According to the book of Psalms, strength and courage come from hope. Hope keeps us going, growing, dreaming and loving. A loss of hope is a great loss.
We remember back when Mary was little and her prognosis was overwhelming, we were very short on hope. At that time, someone gave us the verse, Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans to prosper you and give you peace, plans to give you hope and a future.” Although that is one of our favorite verses, at the time we sure didn’t feel prosperous or successful. And as we looked at Mary’s future, we didn’t feel hopeful. But yet this was God’s promise to us. Today, we have peace regarding Mary and have the hope and confidence that God has and will continue to use Mary in a great way. So, what has changed? Mary is still non-verbal and disabled. What changed is that we figured out where to look for our hope.
Waylon Jennings (and others) popularized the song “Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places”. (go ahead, you can sing it!) Well, that can be applied to hope. We were looking for “hope” in all the wrong places. We weren’t finding hope because we were looking for it in the circumstances — kind of a “look at the bright side”. Our hope isn’t in the circumstance, it is in the one who is in control of the circumstances. Because honestly, our circumstances at times were truly overwhelming. Our hope needed to be not in the circumstances or even in our ability to handle them. Our hope needs to be in God’s ability to handle them and in God’s ability to give us the strength, wisdom and courage to handle the circumstance.
Where do you go when your strength is failing? Who can you trust when life is overwhelming? Have you made a habit of bringing your needs to the Lord? Rest in knowing that God’s umbrella is big enough to cover any rain that falls.
“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.
He is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.”
Psalm 62:5-6
