To all those who have been accepted...Congratulations. You deserve it. To all those who have been waitlisted, rejected, placed on hold etc...I just wanted to share some words of encouragement with you. This is not the time to lose hope....God is still faithful and remains faithful....Keep holding on
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence ~Helen Keller~
A new job. A promotion with a better salary and benefits! An acceptance to that dream school or program! A new car or new home! A wonderful wife or husband! …and the list goes on. Whatever it is, we all are trusting God for something. Over the last couple of days, I asked myself "what keeps us believing in God for something even when we have been waiting for such a long time? What incentive do we have to keep trusting God even when the possibilities of attaining that very thing seems bleak?" Through the countless questions and the long quest to find my answer, God revealed to me the very thing that our foundation is built on, HOPE. By Biblical definition, hope is a strong confident expectation. Hope puts emphasis on two things : (a) futurity (b) invisibility. It is concerned with things we are not able to see or have not yet received. Romans 8:24-25 says: "For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. That's just it family! Hope is expecting confidently. It is the sure certainty that what God has promised in his Word is true and even if we cannot see it yet, it will come to pass because the Lord has promised that it will.
In Psalms 62 David says that he will wait quietly before God for his hope is in HIM. He alone is his rock and his salvation. I say this to emphasize that the job that you have right now or that position of leadership that you currently hold is no guarantee! It is only by God that you are where you are right now. As time goes on, conditions will get worse and things will get harder. But today family I want to remind you that our hope is not in the conditions or what's going on. Our hope comes from God and He alone. We cannot be afraid of certain things that we are going through. God allows us to go through some things so he can uphold his glory and his honor. God says to us…"know your hope is in ME." Hopelessness is the worst place to be in. Hopelessness means that you have resorted to a place of despair. When you resort to being hopeless, you are unable to envision a positive option. God is saying to you today: "Focus on me." God wants you to focus on him even though you are unable to see him. He says "You just have to believe that I am here and I'll prove to you that I am here." When you are hopeless the enemy tries to play on that despair. He tries to make you believe that you have no reason to live. Don't believe that! God does not want you to be drowning in a sea of hopelessness. Instead he wants you to set your eyes on him so that he can begin to act on his promises.
Throughout the Bible hope is never described as something passive or static. It is instead portrayed as something dynamic, active, and life sustaining. Faith is hope in action. The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God. The substance of faith is hope. This means that having faith does not mean that you escape the reality of life or problems. Having hope in God and the Word of God means that your gears are shifted. No longer are you stuck in Park; you have now set your gear on Drive with great expectation of an exciting destination. In the promises of God, you find your hope and where your GPS currently is leading you. Just like he promised Jeremiah he is assuring you today "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. (Jeremiah 29:11). So today friends and family, shift your gears to this promise.
Having hope in God comes with blessings…
1. Hope gives joy and peace
a. Romans 15:13-Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
b. Romans 5:2-Through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God
2. Hope gives protection
a. Psalm 33:18- Behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his loving kindness
3. Hope gives confidence in ministry
a. 1Timothy 4:10-For it is for this we labor and strive because we have fixed our hope on the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
I leave you with this family: don't let the enemy steal from you what God has already ordained for you. Meditate on the words of Jeremiah today: "…Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: ‘the faithful love of the Lord never ends! Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself The Lord is my inheritance; therefore I will hope in him! The Lord is good for those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord. (Lamentations3:19)" All he asks from you is for you to HOPE in him. Today will be better than yesterday. Tomorrow will be better than today. Just HOPE!
Power Verses:
Psalm 62:5- Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him
Psalm 119:114- You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope
Psalm 52:9- I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints.
Prayer of the day: Dear heavenly father, my soul finds rest in you alone. Father God I thank you for the hope that I have in you. I thank you because you are a God that never lies. Lord I thank you in advance for all that you have said that you will do and what you have already done. Lord thank you for the trials and tribulations that have come my way in the midst of my waiting. They have taught me to be dependent on you even more and most of all to remain humble at all times. Lord I ask that you may keep my eyes focused on you. Renew my mind and my heart daily that I may never grow weary of waiting on you. Through it all God, I will wait patiently for you. You are my rock and my redeemer. In you I find refuge. Thank you for being the God of my salvation. In Jesus' name, Amen!