WHEN WE’RE FEELING LIKE OUR DREAMS ARE AT A HOPELESS END, REMEMBER THE LORD HAS GIVEN US ENDLESS HOPE! 🙂

A few days ago, while worshiping together with my husband, we got to singing a song the Lord gave me– “Hope in Him”– which is when the above thought came to mind.

What an encouragement! Especially when…
…the pandemic has been dragging on for over a year now.
…all of us are getting older by the day, and for some it seems dreams are slipping away along with the time left to fulfill them.
…voices in our head (generally put there by the enemy) tell us we can’t (fill in the blank).

I’ll stop here– no use listing more discouraging stuff! 

The TRUTH is– our hope is endless because our eternal life with Him, starting now, is endless.

We see this confirmed with Scriptures such as:

Jer. 29:11—“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

–and HIS plans never fail or go uncompleted!

Psalm 138:8 (ESV)— “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.”

–In our limited perspective and understanding, His purpose may not be our first choice, but we’ll love it when we see and understand it, because it’s the best!  

Why is it the best?  Because He has UNlimited perspective and understanding, to make it the best.

When we comprehend that His purpose IS our purpose, we’ll be able to fully trust that “The Lord will accomplish that which concerns me…”—which is the AMP translation of Psalm 138:8a!

As long as the Lord remains both sovereign and good, hope will never end.  We know this for two reasons:

1. His sovereignty means He’s in charge.  There’s no one “above” him in the decision-making hierarchy.  There’s no one He has to answer to, submit things to, get permission from, etc. 

This means that when He decides something needs to be done or not done, that decision stands.  It also means He has the power, strength, and ability to carry out whatever He decides.

Does this sound scary?  Someone having total, ultimate, control over us would be scary if it weren’t for reason #2!  Which is—

2. His goodness—meaning whatever He decides will always be for the best—our best, everyone’s best, the ultimate best.  His intentions are always kind. 

As we saw in Psalm 138:8, His purpose and motivation is always loving, to give us and others what we all need, even if it isn’t always what we want, or doesn’t show up so pleasant in the short-run. 

This is what the first part of Jer. 29:11 is about:  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you.”  In other words, He WANTS the highest good for us and plans accordingly.

Because of these two put together, the Lord’s sovereign goodness, we can trust His promises, such as Rom. 8:28—“The Lord works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.”

Now look at the ultimate purpose—Rom. 8:29 – “…to be conformed to the image of Jesus.”

If nothing else, we can always have a sure hope of becoming more like Jesus in character. 

What good does that do? It means we’ll never fail in what we think or do.  Think of the implications of that—No sin, no consequences of sin, no broken relationships (with the Lord or others), no shame or guilt, and no regret. 

As a result, we’ll enjoy perfect peace, joy, and love. 

Of course there’s a lot more to hope for too. Hope of eternal life with Him and all that means.  And hope for all the best here on earth, sometimes harder to see, sometimes easier, but always there.

Endless hope, in and through our endless Lord, Whose love for us “endures forever” (Psalm 136—repeated often so we get the idea firmly planted in our heads and hearts)!

Hope this encourages you all as much as it does me! 

As the song says,

“Hope in Him, Hope in Him,

We find our hope in Him;

Come what may, we can say,

Our God is in control so hope in Him!”