Confident HOPE
Lately God has been opening my eyes to what HOPE really is and how differently biblical hope is from the worldly hope we are so used to. I now find myself wondering how often we don't receive the things we are hoping and praying for because we don't FULLY BELIEVE we will.
We HOPE that our prayers will be answered in a fingers-crossed sort of way, all the while knowing that they might not and preparing ourselves for that possibility JUST IN CASE.
We HOPE that we will get pregnant, not miscarry again, deliver a healthy baby, get that promotion, receive good news from those test results, get debt-free, receive healing, stick with it this time, overcome that addiction, etc., but we can't be certain, right? After all, we aren't God and we don't know the future so we simply hope for the best, leaving ourselves open to and prepared for the possibility that whatever we are praying for might not happen.
Friends, this is the kind of HOPE the world teaches us but this is NOT biblical hope nor is it the hope we have been called to as followers of Jesus. This wordly hope, hope-at-a-distance if you will, seems smart, wise, and SAFE - but it isn't. In fact, according to scripture, that's exactly why we aren't receiving the very things we so desperately want!
I don't know about you, but I don't struggle to believe God CAN do anything or to hope in Him for things I know I can't make happen or bring about on my own. That part is easy. I can't, HE can. I mean, duh, he's God! However, where I definitely DO struggle is in EXPECTING and FULLY BELIEVING that God WILL do/give/make happen whatever it is I'm praying for. And to be honest, I didn't really think anything was wrong with that because I fully acknowledge God CAN do anything I ask him for, I just don't know if he WILL since I'm not him! However, God has been teaching me through his Word lately that as followers of Jesus, We are called to EXPECT that the things we are hoping for WILL HAPPEN!
I love the way John Piper puts it: "Biblical hope is not a mere desire for something good to happen. It is a CONFIDENT EXPECTATION and desire for something good in the future. Biblical hope has moral certainty in it. 'Hope in God' does not mean, "cross your fingers." It means, to use the words of William Carey, 'Expect great things from God.'"
I think many of us struggle with this because we've hoped and prayed for things in the past that didn't happen. We've all experienced loss, pain, heartache, and we hope we won't again but we also know we will because we live in a sin-fallen world where scripture promises that we will have trouble. That, however, is NOT an excuse to stop praying BIG prayers, hoping for seemingly impossible things and fully believing that they can and WILL happen in God's perfect timing (not ours), if they are good things that are rooted in God's promises to us, desires He has put on our heart, and in alignment with His Word. This is what brings God glory, what sets us apart, and what the whole world needs to see. Faith, confident hope, and love that is not of this world, am I right?!
Our HOPE is something that should not waver based on our circumstances, thoughts or feelings in any given moment because it is rooted in the faithfulness of God! There should be certainty in it because the will and purpose of God are like iron, not chalk, as Piper puts it. All too often we leave room for doubt because we aren't sure that what we are hoping for is in accordance with God's will, but if we believe God is good, that he is for us, that he loves us more than anyone, that he is fighting for us, and that he always wants what's best for us (SO much more than we even want for ourselves), then there is NO REASON to doubt that he wants that healing or baby or victory for us as well. We should hope for it, expect it, claim it and walk in it, as if it had already happened! We might not know WHEN or HOW he will answer our prayer for whatever it is but that shouldn't change our confident hope that he WILL! I believe Abraham is thee BEST example of this in all of the Bible because he was 100 years old (well past child-bearing years), his wife was barren, yet when God said that He was going to make Abraham the father of many nations, Abraham believed the Lord! There was no tangible reason to hope, no shred of proof it might happen, but still Abraham believed the Lord and God justified him BECAUSE OF HIS FAITH (Genesis 15:6)! Abraham didn't know HOW it would happen or WHEN it would happen, he simply knew that it WOULD!
If I'm being honest, I often waver back and forth between hoping something I pray for will happen and being afraid it won't. Can you relate? I feel like this is a normal part of being human but we aren't just supposed to accept it, we are supposed to fight the lies with the truth of God and fight our fear with our faith! We are supposed to rebuke the enemy, cast out all doubt and take every thought captive, making it obedient to Christ and what his Word says. Yet all too often I allow thoughts that contradict what I'm hoping for to take up residence in my mind instead of instantly casting them out.
For example, I might hope that this third labor is going to be quicker and easier than the last two, but then I google the statistics (forgetting God's power and promises defy all logic, statistics or worldly possibilities), read stories of women who had longer third labors and then dwell on and worry about the possibility of a longer, harder labor and what I would do IF that happens. Even worse, I am often speaking more life into my doubt than my hope! That sounds crazy, but we do it all the time don't we? We hope our kids won't get sick, but then we scroll our newsfeed and dwell on everything going around right now, we google symptoms, and go down the rabbit hole of our fears and all we hope won't happen instead of better spending that time at the feet of Jesus, reading his Word, speaking and praying over the things we are hoping for and casting any anxiety on the Lord.
I'll share another example: We have been praying that this lat baby of ours will not have the genetic blood disorder that our first child has. I have hoped she won't but more in the fingers-crossed kind of way than a confident hope in God kind of way, and I just recently realized that my actions and thoughts have totally undermined that hope! When I realized we didn't have the cash for another home birth and God provided awesome new health insurance that will still allow us to have a home-birth-style water birth a a local hospital without paying a penny, instead of just thanking and praising God for his provision, I allowed my mind to dwell on the possibility that MAYBE God provided for a hospital birth vs a home birth this time because the baby IS going to have the blood disorder and then we will be where we need to be and every expense will now be covered. See the problem? I'm hoping that baby won't have the blood disorder while allowing thoughts that point to the possibility she WILL (instead of rebuking them). If I'm honest, I've done this a lot. I only just realized it a couple days ago and felt so ashamed. How did I not realize this earlier?! I've literally been praying and hoping for no blood disorder but talking about the possibility of it all the time JUST IN CASE. THIS is not what God has for us friends! This is not true hope and it certainly isn't confident hope!
Unfortunately, I don't think most of us realize how dangerous this really is; I know I didn't! We are actually thinking and speaking against the very things we are praying for and being "double-minded." In the Bible God tells us that if do this, we can be sure we will NOT receive what we hope for. Yikes!
"But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive ANYTHING from the Lord." James 1:7
In Jesus' hometown, the people didn't believe that He really was the Son of God because they knew he was born to Mary and Joseph, "And so he only did a few miracles there because of their unbelief." Matthew 13:58
And look at Peter, who was doing the impossible because he believed that if Jesus could then he could too! He was literally walking on water but the very minute he took his eyes off Jesus (the source of his confidence and hope) and let fear creep in, he began to sink. Jesus said, "You have so little faith, why did you doubt me?!"
Friends, our doubt is dangerous because FEAR is the enemy of our FAITH! It is what caused the first original sin and it's what still leads us into sin today. It's what causes us to take control, to try and make things happen on our own or in our own timing instead of God's, It is why we do not receive so much of what we pray and hope for.
YET, if we hope and DO NOT doubt, this is what is possible for us:
"Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them." Mark 11:23
"All things are possible for one who believes.” Mark 9:23
I don't know about you, but I am DONE hoping and praying for things and then allowing myself to think and speak against those very things! Scripture tells us that as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). The battle between flesh and spirit is being fought DAILY in the battlefield of our minds (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). This is why we are commanded to renew our minds daily!
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)
Proverbs 4:23 instructs us to "Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts." We need to watch what we are allowing ourselves to think about, because 80% of our thoughts are negative and 95% of those thoughts are repetitive, which is where STRONGHOLDS come from! To combat all that negativity, we need to renew our minds with God's word daily, constantly replace the lies we tend to believe with God's truths and take our thoughts captive, only allowing ourselves to think on good things!
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
Philippians 4:8
In closing, I can't tell you how eye-opening this has been for me. I am so grateful God has opened my eyes to the true meaning of HOPE, the confident hope He has called us to, and how that Hope is an intregal part of the faith in Him He desires for each one of us to have. I hope all he is teaching me benefits you in some way and am praying for each one of you reading this that God will open your eyes to areas you are letting your fears stifle your faith so he can help you reclaim a confident HOPE that is yours in HIM!
Be blessed.
We HOPE that our prayers will be answered in a fingers-crossed sort of way, all the while knowing that they might not and preparing ourselves for that possibility JUST IN CASE.
We HOPE that we will get pregnant, not miscarry again, deliver a healthy baby, get that promotion, receive good news from those test results, get debt-free, receive healing, stick with it this time, overcome that addiction, etc., but we can't be certain, right? After all, we aren't God and we don't know the future so we simply hope for the best, leaving ourselves open to and prepared for the possibility that whatever we are praying for might not happen.
Friends, this is the kind of HOPE the world teaches us but this is NOT biblical hope nor is it the hope we have been called to as followers of Jesus. This wordly hope, hope-at-a-distance if you will, seems smart, wise, and SAFE - but it isn't. In fact, according to scripture, that's exactly why we aren't receiving the very things we so desperately want!
I don't know about you, but I don't struggle to believe God CAN do anything or to hope in Him for things I know I can't make happen or bring about on my own. That part is easy. I can't, HE can. I mean, duh, he's God! However, where I definitely DO struggle is in EXPECTING and FULLY BELIEVING that God WILL do/give/make happen whatever it is I'm praying for. And to be honest, I didn't really think anything was wrong with that because I fully acknowledge God CAN do anything I ask him for, I just don't know if he WILL since I'm not him! However, God has been teaching me through his Word lately that as followers of Jesus, We are called to EXPECT that the things we are hoping for WILL HAPPEN!
I love the way John Piper puts it: "Biblical hope is not a mere desire for something good to happen. It is a CONFIDENT EXPECTATION and desire for something good in the future. Biblical hope has moral certainty in it. 'Hope in God' does not mean, "cross your fingers." It means, to use the words of William Carey, 'Expect great things from God.'"
I think many of us struggle with this because we've hoped and prayed for things in the past that didn't happen. We've all experienced loss, pain, heartache, and we hope we won't again but we also know we will because we live in a sin-fallen world where scripture promises that we will have trouble. That, however, is NOT an excuse to stop praying BIG prayers, hoping for seemingly impossible things and fully believing that they can and WILL happen in God's perfect timing (not ours), if they are good things that are rooted in God's promises to us, desires He has put on our heart, and in alignment with His Word. This is what brings God glory, what sets us apart, and what the whole world needs to see. Faith, confident hope, and love that is not of this world, am I right?!
Our HOPE is something that should not waver based on our circumstances, thoughts or feelings in any given moment because it is rooted in the faithfulness of God! There should be certainty in it because the will and purpose of God are like iron, not chalk, as Piper puts it. All too often we leave room for doubt because we aren't sure that what we are hoping for is in accordance with God's will, but if we believe God is good, that he is for us, that he loves us more than anyone, that he is fighting for us, and that he always wants what's best for us (SO much more than we even want for ourselves), then there is NO REASON to doubt that he wants that healing or baby or victory for us as well. We should hope for it, expect it, claim it and walk in it, as if it had already happened! We might not know WHEN or HOW he will answer our prayer for whatever it is but that shouldn't change our confident hope that he WILL! I believe Abraham is thee BEST example of this in all of the Bible because he was 100 years old (well past child-bearing years), his wife was barren, yet when God said that He was going to make Abraham the father of many nations, Abraham believed the Lord! There was no tangible reason to hope, no shred of proof it might happen, but still Abraham believed the Lord and God justified him BECAUSE OF HIS FAITH (Genesis 15:6)! Abraham didn't know HOW it would happen or WHEN it would happen, he simply knew that it WOULD!
If I'm being honest, I often waver back and forth between hoping something I pray for will happen and being afraid it won't. Can you relate? I feel like this is a normal part of being human but we aren't just supposed to accept it, we are supposed to fight the lies with the truth of God and fight our fear with our faith! We are supposed to rebuke the enemy, cast out all doubt and take every thought captive, making it obedient to Christ and what his Word says. Yet all too often I allow thoughts that contradict what I'm hoping for to take up residence in my mind instead of instantly casting them out.
For example, I might hope that this third labor is going to be quicker and easier than the last two, but then I google the statistics (forgetting God's power and promises defy all logic, statistics or worldly possibilities), read stories of women who had longer third labors and then dwell on and worry about the possibility of a longer, harder labor and what I would do IF that happens. Even worse, I am often speaking more life into my doubt than my hope! That sounds crazy, but we do it all the time don't we? We hope our kids won't get sick, but then we scroll our newsfeed and dwell on everything going around right now, we google symptoms, and go down the rabbit hole of our fears and all we hope won't happen instead of better spending that time at the feet of Jesus, reading his Word, speaking and praying over the things we are hoping for and casting any anxiety on the Lord.
I'll share another example: We have been praying that this lat baby of ours will not have the genetic blood disorder that our first child has. I have hoped she won't but more in the fingers-crossed kind of way than a confident hope in God kind of way, and I just recently realized that my actions and thoughts have totally undermined that hope! When I realized we didn't have the cash for another home birth and God provided awesome new health insurance that will still allow us to have a home-birth-style water birth a a local hospital without paying a penny, instead of just thanking and praising God for his provision, I allowed my mind to dwell on the possibility that MAYBE God provided for a hospital birth vs a home birth this time because the baby IS going to have the blood disorder and then we will be where we need to be and every expense will now be covered. See the problem? I'm hoping that baby won't have the blood disorder while allowing thoughts that point to the possibility she WILL (instead of rebuking them). If I'm honest, I've done this a lot. I only just realized it a couple days ago and felt so ashamed. How did I not realize this earlier?! I've literally been praying and hoping for no blood disorder but talking about the possibility of it all the time JUST IN CASE. THIS is not what God has for us friends! This is not true hope and it certainly isn't confident hope!
Unfortunately, I don't think most of us realize how dangerous this really is; I know I didn't! We are actually thinking and speaking against the very things we are praying for and being "double-minded." In the Bible God tells us that if do this, we can be sure we will NOT receive what we hope for. Yikes!
"But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive ANYTHING from the Lord." James 1:7
In Jesus' hometown, the people didn't believe that He really was the Son of God because they knew he was born to Mary and Joseph, "And so he only did a few miracles there because of their unbelief." Matthew 13:58
And look at Peter, who was doing the impossible because he believed that if Jesus could then he could too! He was literally walking on water but the very minute he took his eyes off Jesus (the source of his confidence and hope) and let fear creep in, he began to sink. Jesus said, "You have so little faith, why did you doubt me?!"
Friends, our doubt is dangerous because FEAR is the enemy of our FAITH! It is what caused the first original sin and it's what still leads us into sin today. It's what causes us to take control, to try and make things happen on our own or in our own timing instead of God's, It is why we do not receive so much of what we pray and hope for.
YET, if we hope and DO NOT doubt, this is what is possible for us:
"Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them." Mark 11:23
Y'all, WOW! We don't believe that a single one of us can move a mountain, do we? Yet God is not a liar and his Word is TRUE! If we believe that, then we can - BUT ONLY IF WE BELIEVE! God answers our prayers in accordance with our faith! He also assures us that ANYTHING you pray for, no matter how improbably or impossible, IS possible IF you believe!
"All things are possible for one who believes.” Mark 9:23
I don't know about you, but I am DONE hoping and praying for things and then allowing myself to think and speak against those very things! Scripture tells us that as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). The battle between flesh and spirit is being fought DAILY in the battlefield of our minds (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). This is why we are commanded to renew our minds daily!
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)
Proverbs 4:23 instructs us to "Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts." We need to watch what we are allowing ourselves to think about, because 80% of our thoughts are negative and 95% of those thoughts are repetitive, which is where STRONGHOLDS come from! To combat all that negativity, we need to renew our minds with God's word daily, constantly replace the lies we tend to believe with God's truths and take our thoughts captive, only allowing ourselves to think on good things!
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
Philippians 4:8
In closing, I can't tell you how eye-opening this has been for me. I am so grateful God has opened my eyes to the true meaning of HOPE, the confident hope He has called us to, and how that Hope is an intregal part of the faith in Him He desires for each one of us to have. I hope all he is teaching me benefits you in some way and am praying for each one of you reading this that God will open your eyes to areas you are letting your fears stifle your faith so he can help you reclaim a confident HOPE that is yours in HIM!
Be blessed.
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