Hope and Trust

Belinda Kersey 10/8/11

God's Word
Psalm 25:5 "Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long."

Isaiah 26:3 Amplified Bible"You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You."

The Song
"My Hope is In You"  by Aaron Shust

My Thoughts
When our lives are going well and every moment is blessed and golden it is so easy to say we trust in the Lord.  But when life's journey brings us to moments of grief, illness or loss it can be even easier to take our eyes off our heavenly Father and turn them to what may seem more tangible.  We want to hope in something we can see or hold.  When the dollar fails, some put their trust in gold.  When sickness strikes we turn our trust over to doctors, medicine or a hoped for cure.

All the while, our heavenly Father patiently waits for us to turn to Him.  I know when I choose to "meet with (Him) my soul sings out" and His "word throws doubt far away".  Our everyday relationship with Christ should be such that we can say with the Psalmist "My hope is in You, Lord, All the day long. I won’t be shaken by drought or storm."  I have learned this lesson well over the last decade.  I rely daily on my Father to provide physical strength in my weakness.  I find myself telling Him throughout the day that it's just me and Him and I need Him to be my strength-to get in and out of the shower, to pull my jeans up, to drive, to just live life.  When your reliance on God becomes that basic, you discover the meaning of the scripture that talks about praying without ceasing!

I don't think there is anything that makes modern man realize how little he controls our world as the weather does.  Here in N. Texas we have not seen many storms this year but we have certainly dealt with drought.   Man has yet to create a way to control the wind and the rain.  I know if we had, our ranchers and farmers would not be begging for hay from other states or weeping over failed crops.  I find it interesting that when we face severe drought, folks who rarely speak the name of God begin praying for rain; they know they can't hope in the weatherman to provide.

When Aaron Shust was being interviewed about this song, he shared a personal time of struggle he and his family were going through concerning the health of one of their children.  He told of how real the words of this song became when they could not hope in medicine but could only put their hope in the Lord.  He shared a quote from  Matthew Henry’s commentary on Psalm 121: “We must not rely upon men and means, instruments and second causes. Shall I depend upon the strength of the hills? Upon great men? No, my confidence is in God only. Or, we must lift up our eyes above the hills; we must look to God who makes all earthly things to us what they are. We must see all our help in God; from Him we must expect it, in His own way and time. This Psalm teaches us to comfort ourselves in the Lord, when difficulties and dangers are greatest. It is almighty wisdom that contrives, and almighty power that works the safety of those that put themselves under God's protection.” Amazingly powerful words!

In addition to our physical needs, we must seek God for spiritual strength as well.  Simply relying on Him for our physical needs will not provide our soul with the rest it needs.  As the song says "I wait for You and my soul finds rest.  In my selfishness, You show me grace".  When we choose to turn our trust and hope over to a loving and all powerful God we will find the "peace that passes understanding". 



Your Response
Say the words of this song to your Heavenly Father, "I will wait on You,  You are my refuge.
My hope is in You, Lord All the day long I won’t be shaken by drought or storm."  Wait on Him and  He will provide the peace and strength your body and soul need.