In seasons of suffering, hope can be a difficult thing to hold on to and be fully convinced of. Seasons of hopefulness can turn into seasons of weariness, grief, doubt, and despair as suffering lingers.
For years my husband and I have hoped to grow our family. But hope of becoming parents eventually turned into a fight to preserve unity in our marriage. Hope of celebrating with friends and family turned into strained relationships with the people we love. Hope of watching a growing baby on a sonogram turned into months of finding out we weren’t pregnant.
As we endured infertility, hope of entering into a season of parenthood came and went. At times, I even found myself wrestling with doubts and questioning God’s goodness, His timing, and His faithfulness.
But one day, God gently showed me that I was trying to find my hope in His gifts and not the Giver of the gifts. He reminded me that while it is ok to hope for a child or other good gifts that He might give us, our hope is not found in these things. Our hope can only be found in Him.
Hope is the confidence to wait on God for good when we cannot see the future.
Even when we cannot see the future and be certain of the outcome, we can be sure of Him. We can be sure and fully convinced of a God who does not change, a God who is faithful even if we are faithless (2 Timothy 2:13), and a God who is assuredly working all things for good (Romans 8:28).
And this gives me great hope:
- Hope that God is doing a work that I wouldn’t believe if told (Habakkuk 1:5).
- Hope that my suffering is not for nothing. Hope that my suffering will one day end, and He will make all things new (Revelation 21:5).
- Hope that the work God has begun in me, He will be faithful to complete (Philippians 1:6).
- Hope that what God has promised, He is also able to do (Romans 4:21).
