Message Follow Up | Hope: Part 3 – Hope Will Be . . .
Hope | Part 1: Hope Will Be . . . from Journey Church on Vimeo.
by Matt Dawson
“May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.”
Psalm 33:22
This is one of my “go to” verses. I love it because it highlights the unfailing love of God AND our choice to place our Hope in Him.
As Christians, we should be marked by the choices we make, especially our choices about where we place our Hope (our confidence, trust, source). When people ask us “how can you have hope in such a hopelessly broken world” or “how can you retain hope when that broken world brings trouble right to your doorstep?”
The answer is simple, but not easy – we choose to.
Where else would we possibly want to place our hope?
When our hope is in Jesus, He is not only an anchor for our souls when the storms come, but his unfailing love provides unfailing strength. It is only in Jesus that we can trust that all things (great things, terrible things) will work out for the good of those who love Him and are called by Him. It is in the tension of this hopelessly broken world that God works the impossible in and through us.
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV
When our hope is in us (YOU AND ME), we are doomed to fail ourselves, even at our best. I love that Isaiah says, “remember when you were young and at the peak of your physical existence… EVEN THEN you grow weary – EVEN THEN your strength will fail.”
Yet, God never grows weary.
His strength never fails.
His love is unfailing.
His understanding is beyond what anyone can fathom. AND WHEN OUR HOPE IS IN HIM… He gives us His strength. He gives us His unfailing love. Even in the worst of times, we can soar on the wings of eagles, we can run and not grow weary, we can walk and not faint.
Jesus was our Hope.
Jesus is our Hope.
Jesus will always be our Hope.
Have you settled this in you heart? Have you decided once and for all where you are going to place your Hope?
Maybe this Christmas you will finally take that step you have been waiting to take – surrender the hope you have placed in yourself – and accept the precious gift that Jesus was born to bring you.
Hope in Jesus!