Journal Entry ~ 01/23/19

27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. - Colossians 1:27-29

We are hopeful creatures - the reality is we hope all day long. As I sit on my couch this morning, looking out at the snow, I hope traffic isn’t too bad this morning. My husband has been interviewing for a job that I hope he gets. My son flew to LA yesterday - I hope he’s safe while he’s there. My car is in the shop this morning - I hope it doesn’t cost too much to fix. I think about the future and I hope my husband will be able to retire and travel the world. I hope my grandchildren grow up to know the love of Christ. My heart has clung to bigger hopes for a long time as well - I hope my sons live a life surrendered to Jesus. I hope I am a good and faithful servant of Christ.

We were created to hope. Our desire to hope was placed in our hearts by the Creator himself. The problem is we were never meant to place our hope in the created things of this world. We were created to hope the Creator. 

When we hope, we place a great deal of expectation on the fact that our hope realized will bring us peace or comfort, happiness or satisfaction. We cling to that hope and we look for it to fulfill us. Sometimes we hope so hard that our heart aches as we wait for that hope to be filled. Perhaps we’re hoping for a husband, or a child, perhaps we’re hoping for a healing or an addiction to be taken, perhaps we’re hoping for a relationship to be restored or some sort of justice. We long to see the day when our hope comes to fruition because we believe our lives will be made better. 

What’s at the center of all those hopes?  My happiness, my comfort, my peace. I hope because I don’t want to struggle. And what happens when a hope isn’t realized? We’re disappointed, we’re devastated, and we despair. Fear takes over and we begin to question if God is really there, if He really cares about us, if He is really sovereign. 

Unless our hope is firmly anchored in Jesus, we are going to be disappointed. It's as simple as that. He is the only hope that is constant enough to count on. The things of this world are fleeting, but God is a rock solid foundation that remains the same through time. His promises are always true, and He is faithful to fulfill every single one of them. 

We have to be careful with our hope, we have to be cautious about how and to whom we hand our hope. The hopes that make our heart ache are the ones we should watch most closely. When our heart is longing for a hope to be fulfilled, we may be looking for the hope to bring us a peace it simply cannot. There is only one Hope that can bring us the peace we long to know and His name is Jesus. I 


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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