Resilient Hope - Part 2

As we continue to dwell on how, along with faith & love, hope is essential to our lives, this verse comes to mind "... a cord of three strands is not quickly broken." - Ecclesiastes 4:12

In other words, a rope made of three strands is hard to break. Though this verse is often referred to in the context of marriage, we can see how the three aspects of faith, hope & love seem to be interwoven in a similar fashion. To better understand how they are also like "a cord of three strands", let's look at the story of the Canaanite woman and her persistence for the deliverance of her daughter...

"Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came to Him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment" – Matthew 15:21-28

This mother, who was driven by love for her daughter, had faith that Jesus could heal her daughter but as He tested that faith by His seeming denial or delay of it, it was her hope that sustained her as she kept pressing on, trusting that He would heal her daughter. Jesus was pleased by her perseverance and her daughter was healed that instant! I believe that when hope comes in its rightful place along with faith & love, you will find yourself standing strong & fearless, ready to soar through the difficult seasons of waiting.

Whether it was the prodigal’s father who waited with hope that one day his son would return home, or the woman with the issue of blood who knew this Man could heal her and hoped that touching just the hem of His garment would do it, we look at different stories from the Bible and can see that while faith is believing God can do it ... Hope is trusting that He will do it!

Many a times the world and culture we live in may encourage us to put our hope in wrong things and places. Sometimes, in material things like money, power, position or other times it could be in the more understandable areas of life such as friends, family, children, or spouses. When we do that, we end up experiencing heartache and disappointment because these things fade, and the people we put our hope in are just as human as we are, and we end up setting them as well as ourselves up for disappointment. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that things and people are not important, my point is, we should not put all our hope and trust in them... we should not put the burden of our expectations on them and to be honest, we should not put that burden on ourselves. For The Word says;

"Do not put your trust/hope in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them - the LORD, who remains faithful forever." – Psalm 146:3-6

Yes indeed! The Lord who remains faithful forever, The Maker of heaven and earth - He is the giver of all things and people for us to do life with!

So what is the hope we need today? Is it the hope of healing? Or of deliverance? Or reward? Or of a lost relationship? ... Have we lost hope about it? Did we stop expecting in that matter? Did we eventually stop persevering in prayer for it?

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life” - Proverbs 13:12

Those who have lost all hope that their situation can be rebuilt or restored are quite often the ones who go into depression and some even think that life is not worth living anymore and contemplate to end it. Today if you have lost hope about something or someone, let me encourage you, because what is lost can be found, if you are looking in the right place. Scripture says;

"Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you." – Zechariah 9:12

"But those who hope (wait on) 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 40:31

I think of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit and draw a parallel of the three words in my mind… God is LOVE, in Jesus I am invited to put my FAITH, and The Holy Spirit is my seal of HOPE until the end of time. Just like The Spirit of God brought revival when He came like a rushing wind on the day of Pentecost, I believe that hope will revive our hearts because hope is like the wind beneath the wings of faith & love.

For the children of God, our greatest hope and what we are waiting for with great expectation is that Jesus will come again and renew all things. As I read news headlines and look at all that is happening around us, I am in awe of how much weight this little word has in our lives… beautifully nestled between the power of faith & love, hope may be subtle but it is resilient. Today as you read this message, I pray that hope will birth anew into your heart, soul, body, mind & spirit. May you know with absolute certainty that all is not lost and that there is great hope to be found...

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13

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