My Hope is Built on Nothing Less...

On the way to work this morning, I prayed.  The whole way to work this morning, I prayed in tongue.  Something that I am not comfortable with at all.  Something that I do not feel gifted in at all.  Something that to me sounds more like a frog struggling to choke down a fly than prayer.  But it was all in tongue.  From the moment I hit Ridgetop, until I pulled into the parking lot at work.  And I sobbed all the way in also.  Coming over the crest of Ridgetop, it was like the sky opened and rays of sunshine beamed all over Silverdale, and over Maxim Mountain, and over my truck.  I was filled with the Holy Spirit and thus the praying in tongue and the sobbing.  It was so overwhelming, and so comforting.  I felt so loved and so helpless all at the same time.  And in the instant that I reached the light at the 303 interchange, I heard the words “Hope is real!” whispered into my ear.

I paused the praying and the crying, and my first thought was, “Of course hope is real!  That’s what we’ve been banking on for so long.  That’s what gets sucked away when we have doctor visit days.  That’s what we fight to get back to after talking to Swedish and doctors and nurses who are immersed in the everyday battles against glioblastoma.  But those doctors and nurses don’t have the hope that we have.”  Of course hope is real.

Thinking about the course that the doctors take in this seemingly losing battle, I realized that for so many people, hope is not real.  And this…this is our gift to others all around us.  Writing this not knowing what you are going to be telling me in a few hours, I am clinging to that hope.  I am clinging to seeing the words “IT IS GONE” come across my cell phone screen.  I am singing “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’s blood and righteousness.” And then the tears start falling again, because THIS is our mission right now from Father God.  THIS is what we are supposed to bring to others.  THIS is the most important thing that we are going to transfer to the non-believers and the sorta believers around us.  HOPE!

We have been the hopeless.  I have been the hopeless.  I have been one to sit, wondering what we are going to do without Clay in our lives.  I have jumped to the end and wondered what we are going to do.  I have been hopeless in this and felt totally alone and struggling with these emotions.  We cannot help ourselves out of this situation.  If we even tried, we would only end up with bigger feelings of helplessness and hopelessness that we find without Father God present.   I believe that this will be our message in the mess:  We have to strive to bring the news of Jesus Christ and all that He has to offer to others, the gift of hope, even when we are struggling to find that ourselves.

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

The dictionary says that hope is “a feeling of optimism or a desire that something will happen.”  It is our job in this terrible situation, to show people our hope, and to bring hope to the situations that plague them also.  When we bring hope to others, we bring life.  It is life-changing what we are going through and what we have been through.  And not just the tumor!  Looking past the tumor, and the hope that we have found, this is life-changing!  When we bring hope, we bring life!  The hope that we have in Him is more than just asking God for something that we desire will happen, such as Clay’s complete healing; we have to amplify our hope and fully expect our miracle!  We need to pause and search for our answer somewhere among our praying, pleading, and expectation that God is going to answer our prayer.  I have faith that we will find exactly what we are looking for.  And that is the promise of restorative healing to Clay, and to all of us, that are part of this journey.  So many lives and hearts and souls will be saved because we have hope!

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living..”  Psalms 27:13.

There are too many people in our world, in our communities, in our families that have lost hope.  There are so many hurts and problems and diseases.  So much cancer and heartache and broken families.  So many wars, political battles, and financial failures. It seems as if the world has no hope. 

Without God, the world is awful, dark, and hopeless.  But with the help of our Heavenly Father, we can make it through all of this. This situation that we're in? No matter what those scans say, there is hope! We maybe can't see it or feel it at times, but it is there for us! It is there within our grasp. Where is our hope? Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus. Jesus Christ is where we go for hope. 

I Googled the phrase "Bible verses about hope" and found some sources for us:

Psalms 39:7 "And now, Lord, what do I wait for?  My hope is in You.”

Psalms 119:49 "Remember your promise to me, for it is my only hope."

Psalms 42:11 "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God."

Psalms 33:18 "Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy.”

Faith. One of our other pillars plays into hope also. Have faith in Father God. He wants us to trust Him. We need to be in agreement with Him about this situation. Don't go by feelings. Don't live in the dread that we sink into because a doctor told us what he thinks will happen.  God does not want us to suffer.  God only has good plans for our lives.  Jeremiah tells us, "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." Jeremiah 29:11. 

There is no disappointment or hopelessness and loneliness or helplessness. We have hope! Another of our pillars, love, God's love is in our hearts and that will help increase our hope, even if it's buried way beneath diagnoses and prognoses and pills and appointments and scans and fear and sadness. There is hope! God's word is still there to encourage us in these moments:

Romans 5:5 " Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

And our over-arching theme of STRONGER EVERYDAY comes into play with all of this too. The Bible is filled with words of "be strong, be of good courage, wait, fear God, strive for hope, wait patiently, be joyful in hope." Action words - our faith in action. Our faith comes alive when we are given words of hope and faith and peace and love. Speak these words of God over us and over this situation and hope will abound!

Psalms 31:24 "Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord."

Psalms 119:74 "Those who fear You will be glad when they see me, because I have hoped in Your word."

Isaiah 40:31 "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

Romans 8:24 "For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?"

Romans 12:12 "Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer."

I speak life over Clay and over you and over this situation. You mean so very much to me, and as I write this blog post, I want so much more than these words I am typing for you!  I want it to help you remain steady in your hope.  I want it to show the world that, even in the face of a glioblastoma and difficult prognoses, that we have hope!  My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus...we will be of good courage, be strong, and wait on the Lord. We will trust Father God with our lives, with Clay's life. We will continue to speak the four pillars, and our overarching theme, upon our lives everyday: Faith, Hope, Peace, Love, Stronger Everyday. We will speak these over our lives. Everyday. These gifts from God will carry us through. Speak these words everyday...and watch what God will continue to do for us as we walk along this path, this journey.

HOPE: 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.."

PEACE: Philippians 4:7 “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

FAITH: 1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

LOVE:I Corinthians 13:13 “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Amen!