Daring to hope in the storm
At the blink of an eye, December is near. As 2020 gets ready to play its final scene, the anticipation and excitement for Christmas is bubbling in the air. After the rough year we’ve had, it seems everyone is desperate to fast forward to a time of hope and joy. Including myself if I’m being honest.
Lately, life has been all kinds of messy and wonderful. My relationship with God has never been stronger, and yet I’ve also never felt more lost than I do right now. I feel like I’m holding onto a small driftwood of hope in the ocean, struggling to stay afloat as the waves of life take me to an unknown destination. And bear in mind, I can’t swim. So in this imaginary picture, the driftwood is the only thing that’s keeping me alive. And given how this year has been, I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Hope is a scary thing in this unpredictable, fast-changing world. As I struggle to ride this great big wave of ‘I don’t know’s, what keeps me sane is this eternal hope that anchors my soul (Hebrews 6:19), and His name is Jesus. It brings me great comfort to know that my hope is based not on shaky circumstances, but on an unwavering God who knows me personally and takes care of me.
So often when our plans go awry — especially plans we thought God called us towards — we think ‘well, I must have misheard God’ or ‘perhaps God changed His mind’, but not once in the Bible did God promise a life free of trouble. He simply promised that no matter what kind of storms life takes us through, we can always find joy and hope.
Perhaps you’re rolling your eyes at me right now through the screen, thinking about all the very real worries that you have. I’m not trying to belittle your struggles, instead, I’d like to offer an alternative to worrying: I’d like to dare you to proclaim God’s word more boldly than ever before.
God gave us 66 books of His word, filled with scriptures that promises He will provide for us, He can work miracles, in Him we have an eternal fountain of joy we can tap into, and so much more… The question is, are we choosing to declare and believe in His promises for our lives?
Somehow in the process of chasing after lofty goals with my own strength, I allowed life to harden me. I’ve lost some of the childlike optimism and capacity for hope that I used to have. I know I still have some, I know it’s there and comes out often but I’m chasing after more. By proclaiming God’s promises, I want my driftwood of hope to grow bigger and bigger, into a Noah’s ark size of hope that will keep me protected amidst the storms of life. And I pray the same for anyone reading this.
God bless. x
