{"id":13007,"date":"2015-05-20T06:00:52","date_gmt":"2015-05-20T12:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"2c598443-9abe-11e8-99ad-ca52c1e5b2af"},"modified":"2015-05-20T06:00:52","modified_gmt":"2015-05-20T12:00:52","slug":"maintaining-hope-in-the-lord","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/maintaining-hope-in-the-lord\/","title":{"rendered":"Maintaining Hope in the Lord"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you haven\u2019t read Suzanne Gosselin\u2019s excellent article, \u201cWhy You Should Keep Hoping for Marriage<\/a>,\u201d go read it now. Seriously, go read it, and I\u2019ll wait right here.<\/p>\n

OK, here we go! Suzanne reminds us that \u201c[t]he key to staying hopeful despite discouraging circumstances is to stay connected with God and others, and walk the fine line of hoping for marriage but not making it your only hope. As believers our hope is much bigger than marriage (see\u00a0Titus 2:13<\/a>). We know a God who offers us hope in abundance, and that\u2019s reason enough to expect great things.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most valuable things I learned during my single years was the importance of hope. Not just hope in the good things God could give me, like a spouse, but hope in who He is and His promises throughout Scripture. Promises like He will never leave or forsake us;\u00a0that\u00a0He hears our prayers and sees our tears;\u00a0and that He is for us, not against us.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve found that maintaining hope in the Lord is something I still need to do, even now that I\u2019m married. Because the truth is, there\u2019s always something we\u2019re hoping for. When we\u2019re single, we hope for marriage. When we\u2019re married, we hope for children. During pregnancy, we hope for a healthy baby. When we\u2019re parents, we hope for children who will love the Lord and live for\u00a0Him. And on and on it goes.<\/p>\n

And it isn\u2019t just hope in our personal circumstances. I was struck with just how important hope is to a life of faith just a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

My husband and I hosted a morning prayer group for our church community. As we gathered, we listed things to pray for. The earthquake in Nepal had just happened, and the photos were devastating. The riots in Baltimore were turning violent, and it was reigniting tension in our own community as protestors gathered in Ferguson nearby. A couple from our church were weeks away from giving birth to a baby who would not survive more than a few hours. Another couple was considering leaving the denomination after sensing God was calling them to a new place. One of my extended family member suffered an aneurysm, and she was going to be taken off life support.<\/p>\n

That morning felt heavy. The world was violent, and I was reminded of the brokenness we live in. I was wrestling with the tension between having the presence of the Holy Spirit here on earth, but the earth still waiting for when Christ will return and restore everything. It felt hopeless. Even as we prayed and pleaded to the Lord for\u00a0His comfort and healing and peace, hope seemed far away.<\/p>\n

I was reminded that our hope is not in anything but the Lord. It\u2019s not in our circumstances or our relationship status or the numbers in our bank account. In this life we will not escape suffering and pain and even death. But Scripture reminds us, especially in the Psalms, where our hope comes from. Psalm 39 says, \u201cAnd now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My\u00a0hope\u00a0is in you,\u201d and Psalm 130 tells us, \u201cI\u00a0wait for the\u00a0Lord,\u00a0my soul waits, and\u00a0in his word I hope.”<\/p>\n

No matter what your life looks like, remember that God alone is the source of all hope, and He will not disappoint us. Nothing can change that. When we\u2019re tempted to put our hope in a change of relationship status or in any other temporary things, let\u2019s remember that those things, too, are fading. They are good things, but ultimately they aren\u2019t the source of our hope. God, and only God,\u00a0is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you haven\u2019t read Suzanne Gosselin\u2019s excellent article, \u201cWhy You Should Keep Hoping for Marriage,\u201d go read it now. Seriously, go read it, and I\u2019ll wait right here. OK, here we go! Suzanne reminds us that \u201c[t]he key to staying hopeful despite discouraging circumstances is to stay connected with God and others, and walk the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":17344,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13007","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual-growth"],"yoast_head":"\nMaintaining Hope in the Lord - Boundless<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/maintaining-hope-in-the-lord\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maintaining Hope in the Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you haven\u2019t read Suzanne Gosselin\u2019s excellent article, \u201cWhy You Should Keep Hoping for Marriage,\u201d go read it now. 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