Confident Expectation
Sally swept the front step off and gave a sigh of contentment. She was so excited about her new home. With hope in her heart she looked forward to the days ahead entertaining and spending quiet evenings curled up reading.
Debra was filled with hope at the promise of a new job in the fall. It was just what she had been looking for and she could hardly wait to start!
Patsy had a baby coming. Marcy was planning her wedding. Confident expectation about what lay ahead on the road of life. Hope for a bright tomorrow.
But what about those whose tomorrow holds little hope? What happens when the road ahead is filled with loss and stress weighs the shoulders down? What about the anxious mother wondering about the tomorrow for her child as she listens to the evening news? When confident expectation in life’s tomorrow dwindles, as it often can in the face of today’s challenges, what can you do? Where can you go?
How do you find that something inside of you that enables you to handle what the circumstances outside bring? How can you walk in hope when you feel hopeless inside?
There is an answer…to some it sounds trite at first…but it is an answer that goes beyond the self-help books of the day. It is an answer that goes beyond what you might ever have imagined. In one word the answer is “God”.
Several decades of experience applying this answer to my life has left me with a “hope in tomorrow” that is well worth passing on. Confident expectation is worth sharing!
Hope in God comes from more than just a belief that He exists somewhere out there. There is a verse in the Bible that calls this hope in God “an anchor for the soul”. It is something deep within that secures you through the storms of life. Putting your hope in the God of the universe will give you these four things.
- Hope for help
God invites us to come to Him and boldly ask for help. Recently a friend of mine had an important business meeting to attend and the outcome of that meeting could have had far reaching effects for her. She was very concerned about some of the implications that had come up and what the outcome would be. She knew that unless God intervened for her, things would not go well. So three of us prayed together with confident expectation and asked for help and for truth to be revealed. And God answered.The need is different for all of us. God waits to help you with your need, if only you ask.
- Hope to overcome
Friends of ours tell a story of their marriage, brought to a crisis by alcohol abuse. They had begun to believe that the disappointments, separate lives, and having just an outer shell of family was just the way life went. When they finally invited God into their circumstances, by His strength, they overcame great obstacles. Today they have an intact family that gives God a place in their home. Addictions can come in many forms and they leave one feeling powerless and hopeless. God gives hope and help to overcome.Rather than living life as a victim, let God help you overcome the obstacles in your life.
- Hope for power
Sometimes in life we find ourselves with a task in front of us that simply looks too big for us. It might be in a relationship struggle, it might be in a job or in a parenting task. It might be in managing our finances. In recent years I found myself with a task before me that was simply too big. I knew my own limitations and areas of weakness, yet there it was and it was mine to do. Having experienced God’s help and His ability to help me overcome in other times in my life, I knew where to go. I did not just need a cup of God’s strength added to my own; rather I needed His strength in me to do this job. He gave it!Seeing our weakness as the very entry point of God’s strength gives access to His power!
- Hope for eternity
When we put our faith and hope in God, it not only gives us help and strength and power where we walk today but it also gives us hope for life after death. It is a confident expectation of the ultimate “tomorrow’.
The God of Hope is only one prayer away. If you want the confident expectation of His strength and wisdom in your today and His help and hope for your tomorrow, you need only ask. Just tell Him…
Dear God,
I have gone my own way in life and have put my hope in so many things that have disappointed me. Forgive me and come into my life today. Show me how to live in the confident expectation of how You can impact my life, my character and my circumstances. I place my hope in You right now and ask You to make Yourself known to me in my life right where I walk. I thank you. Amen.
