Hope for Change

Following in line with the "is anybody home" post from a few days ago comes the question of hope. . When you're asking the same question(s) for years and no answer or hope of an answer seems apparent, it is easy to think that God's forgotten about those "days" in your life.

I was reading through 1 Peter 1 and I came across verse 13: "Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

That's a very different hope than one that is based on my physical circumstances. Its not a hope based on a job that pays well or relationships that have no struggles (or a relationship that's not there). Its a hope in the only One who will never disappoint, forget or leave me. Its a hope in my Father who loves me and gave His Son for me. Its a hope in an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. Its an inheritance (adoption) because of the death of my dear Savior.

My Father knows my pain - He remembers I'm dust. How grateful I am that His patience as displayed with the children of Israel has not run out before it came to me. Looking back and seeing His faithfulness in my past gives me yet a deeper understanding of what it means to be "long-sufferring". And it reassures me that He will confidently and lovingly order my future steps that to me seem so unclear.