God’s Gift of Hope
"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 (NIV)
In the midst of the ups and downs of life, it can sometimes be hard to remember that God does have plans for our lives. It can be easy to focus more on our own hopes, forgetting to trust God’s provision for us. We have ideas of what we want our days to look like. When things go well, we may have a tendency to think that it's because we've done the right things. And, while it is true that good decisions can lead to good results, I firmly believe that anything good in my life is wholly due to God's grace and unmerited favor! He gives us good things because He loves us, not because we deserve any of them.
And then there are the "downs" of life. Some of the things that happen may seem so shocking and so sad that it's hard to imagine them being a part of God's plan for our lives. 2020 surprised and disappointed us like no other year. For many, that holiday season looked a lot different from what we had hoped for. We were not able to enjoy some of our favorite holiday traditions. We missed out on time with our loved ones. It may not have “felt” like Christmas, so we trusted God to provide. Now a year later as we approach Christmas 2021, we still need to trust God’s plans for us, and to remember that great Plan and Hope our Father sent for us on that first Christmas so long ago.
So many times in my life, I've come through heartbreaking experiences and seen how God blesses through them, because of them, and in spite of them. It doesn't surprise me when He does that. In fact, I've learned to live in expectation of it. That hope often gets me through such bad times. I know God will work all things for good. He will give beauty for ashes.
Having been raised in the church, I've known of God's love since I was a little girl. However, I began to understand it on a new level when I became a mother. I remember looking at my newborn child and realizing that there would never be anything she could do that would cause me to stop loving her. It was then that I began to see how God could love me like that. As His child, He loves me so much and will never stop, no matter how many times I fail.
Remember when I said that God brings good things from bad and gives beauty for ashes? Becoming a mother was an example of this for me. For many years, I didn't plan to have children. I knew that there was no such thing as a perfect parent, and if I couldn't do it perfectly, then why do it at all? This warped thinking stemmed from the perfectionism I've wrestled with for most of my life. In 1995, however, I had an ectopic pregnancy. I wasn't familiar with the condition, and the more I learned about it after I was treated for it, the more I realized that I could have died as a result of it. And probably should have, medically speaking. But God had other plans.
One year later, I gave birth to a precious girl who, to this day, is a blessing to so many people. If I had not gone through the difficulty and heartbreak of the ectopic pregnancy, I might have let Satan keep that hold of perfectionism over me, and the world would have been robbed of the blessings of both of my children. Have I been a perfect parent? Not even close. But I have tried to follow God's example and love unconditionally. I am immensely proud of my daughters, but I can't really brag, because I know that the good in them is 100% due to God's grace and provision. To Him be the glory!
In the good times and bad, it is crucial to hold on to God's perfect peace that passes all understanding. The key to this is to praise Him. Always. Forever. In ALL things. When I was in college, I was in a singing group. Recently, one of the songs we performed that I haven't heard or even thought of in many years came back to me in a dream. I was surprised at how many of the words I remembered. The song is called "Praise the Lord" and was recorded by the Imperials back in 1979. I hope these words are an encouragement to you, as they are to me!
When you're up against a struggle that shatters all your dreams
And your hopes have been cruelly crushed by Satan's manifested schemes
And you feel the urge within you to submit to earthly fears
Don't let the faith you're standing in seem to disappear
Praise the Lord, He can work through those who praise Him
Praise the Lord, for our God inhabits praise
Praise the Lord, for the chains that seem to bind you
Serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you
When you praise Him
Now Satan is a liar and he wants to make us think
That we are paupers when he knows himself we're children of the King
So lift up the mighty shield of faith for the battle must be won
We know that Jesus Christ has risen so the work's already done
Praise the Lord, He can work through those who praise Him
Praise the Lord, for our God inhabits praise
Praise the Lord, for the chains that seem to bind you
Serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you
When you praise Him
Susan Foster
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