My Hope is in You!

I want to start off this post with a passage.

Psalm 71:5-8

5 O Lord, you alone are my hope. I’ve trusted you, O Lord, from childhood. 6 Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you!

7 My life is an example to many, because you have been my strength and protection. 8 That is why I can never stop praising you; I declare your glory all day long.

There are a few words that really minister to me in this passage.

#1. HOPE

#2. TRUST

As I go throughout each day, these words are always surrounding me for many reasons. First off…HOPE. Hope is something that gives people the courage to face another day. Hope gives people the determination to keep trying. Hope can turn situations that seem impossible into a possible reality. That is why I love having hope in my life. Honestly, I am not sure if I would have the kind of hope that I do have without having Christ in my life and His Word—the Bible. You can just google scriptures on “hope” and find hundreds of them.

One that I read makes so much sense. It’s found in Romans 8:24-25

24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

This is hope to me. I feel like Jesus is hope…and all that He has done for us gives us hope to trust Him. That’s the second word that I always find myself saying…TRUST.

God, I trust in you! Waking up every day and seeing out of one eye can stink without hope. But, when you have it…you trust in God that you will be able to one day! Trusting in God has been something I say out of my mouth. God, I trust in You! This definitely has helped fuel my faith.

Last week, a youth pastor from Indiana shared something with me about Hope and Faith. Her youth group has been praying for me and even mailed me amazing cards. She passed on a teaching that was pretty awesome. One thing from the teaching that stuck out to me was…..Hope was future….Faith is now! If you think of it in the sense of salvation, you have “now faith” that you are saved. We don’t hope that we are saved…we believe that we are saved by faith and through grace. I can confidently say that Jesus is my savior because of my faith in Him and His grace for me. Well, I think healing is the same thing. If I say I am hoping to be healed, then at what point do I become healed? My hope is not that I am healed…because I believe I am! My hope is that I will be able to see soon! I believe, just like I did to receive salvation, that I am healed because that’s what the Word of God tells me. So I just have to trust and wait patiently. That’s why I truly can say that I trust in my God!

I guess for some this may seem confusing. But for me, it feels good to know that I can hope, and I can trust in a miraculous God. This experience has taught me a lot about hope and trust. I have seen God do amazing things in my life. It’s so good to know I can hope and trust in a God that does the impossible. And I think the most amazing thing about it is that I am not alone. I have received messages, packages, cards, and calls from people all around the states, telling me that they are praying for me. 20/20 has been our motto! It’s something we speak all the time as a family. Why? Because our hope and trust is in a supernatural God!

The last scripture that I want to share is Jeremiah 29:11. This scripture is like our family verse…well, it’s definitely my mom’s! I remember her always quoting this scripture on our best days and our worst days. It states:

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

God’s plans for us are always for good—not disaster. A lot of people question God on a lot of things. But for me, I have always been taught that God gives good gifts. He breathes life. He gives hope. We live in a world of imperfect people, making imperfect decisions. There is evil all around us because of the decisions we make as people—it has nothing to do with God. And so I hold to that verse as my own—walking through what could have been a disaster. But I don't see it that way. I have to know that God’s plans for me was not to be insecure, blind, depressed, or living life feeling I have lost something. God’s plans are for me to live! To be a light to others, to walk in peace and enjoy the amazing things He has given me. My hope is in His promises for me, so why should I be anything different then what He wanted for me...even when I go through things!

I’m sure people question my faith. Maybe they question my parents—thinking they are the ones that are pumping me with all of this “hope stuff” or “faith in miracles”. One thing I can say—my life has come to know what it means to hope, trust, and have faith of my own. And I believe! Yes, my parents have taught me a lot. But what I have didn't come by a lesson, or teaching. What I have is real! It's my faith in my God!

I want to thank everyone who has shared in that same confession for my life. You don’t know what it means to me for so many people standing in faith with me. Even, several of my friends have had dreams about my sight returning. I love hearing them tell me how it happened and what I was doing at the time my sight returned. It makes me smile and reassures my faith in God that I am already healed. This is the amazing God I serve—He always reminds me of His faithfulness, His promise and His love for me! Keep believing and keep dreaming! 20/20!