Where have you placed your hopes?
I want to challenge how you look at hope today. Instead of thinking about hope primarily as something you desire to have in the future, think about hope as where you are placing your trust. We don’t just hope for something, we hope in something or someone. What or who we place our hopes in is where we are putting our trust. When you have to wait for something and get frustrated when you cannot exert any control to make it happen, you can who your hopes in – yourself.
We may place our hopes and trust in ourselves, family members, or our jobs or income. We may place our hopes and trust in economies or governments or businesses. As followers of Jesus, we are called to put our trust in Him, the Creator of the Universe, the Savior of the world. But because we are so busy and distracted, we often slip into trusting other people or entities rather than Him. If you are having to wait, notice where your trust is – where you have put your hope in today.
Psalm 62 is a prayer that refocuses us on who we are waiting for and in whom we should place our hope in: God. These verses remind us of the character of God, who shows us steadfast love and who will keep all of His promises. He has been faithful in the past, and He will remain faithful until the end.
Scriptures
5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.