A Hope That Does Not Disappoint: Making The Transition From Works To Faith

Checklist 

Tell me if this situation sounds familiar to you. You receive a promise from God, and you know with every fiber in your being that this promise is especially for you. To make sure that the promise will come to pass you begin to do the things that are required to see the promise come to fruition. 

1. Prayer
2. Fasting
3. Removing sin and living holy
4. Wait for the promise to come

But instead of the promise appearing, trouble comes instead so the list gets longer

1. Prayer
2. Fasting
3. Removing sin and living holy
4. Asking for others to pray and fast
5. Wait for the promise to come

Now surely the promise will make its appearance right. But no, frustration and doubt have stepped into the process instead. This causes the list for the promised manifestation to get longer still.

1. Prayer
2. Fasting
3. Removing sin and living holy
4. Frustration
5. Doubt
6. Repent for doubting
7. Wait for the promise to come

What if I told you that God's checklist may look a lot different from ours? What if the things required for the promise to appear in our lives requires an unexpected journey instead

1. Tribulation
2. Perseverance
3. Character
4. Hope
5. Faith 
6. Love
7. Promise

The Wait 

The apostle Paul in writing to the church in Rome used Abraham as an example of waiting on God for what appeared to be an impossible promise. Twenty-four years had passed from the time God first mentioned to Abraham that he would be a father (Genesis 12). By the time Genesis 17 comes around Abraham is 99 and Sarah is 90, physically there is no way that a child can come forth at this point. Just like them, in our lives, there have been promises that seemed absolutely impossible to come to pass from a natural standpoint. But what God asks of us is to believe in Him instead of ourselves. First God would change Abram's name to Abraham to reflect the promise of the father of many nations. Sarai's name would also be changed to Sarah the mother of many nations (Genesis 17). At this point, Abraham and Sarah had already gone through their promise checklist. Just like us, out of frustration of waiting on God to fulfill His promise, they decided to try and make things happen themselves by their own works. 

 Yes, it is good to pray and do all those things. But don't put your hope in the doing of the checklist to make the promise appear. The timing of all things is in God's hands, our part is to put our trust (faith) that what He promised, He is able to perform. So whether that be a promise of marriage, healing, a child or etc. God does not disappoint! "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 (Romans 5:5).

God versus You 

When did Abraham finally become the father of many nations? Was it when Isaac was born or when he believed? Well, the word says this:

"I have made you a father of many nations, in the presence of Him whom he believed-God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist a though they did; who contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken. "So shall your descendants be". And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised  He was also able to perform (Romans 4:17-21)."

Who is able to make the promise come to pass, God or you? Your faith, your hope, your promise is all centered and founded on the belief that God is. Because God is good, because God loves you, because God is faithful to keep His word your promise will be fulfilled. Continue to pray and fast and seek God's face, but always remember that the promise is based on God's ability to perform not yours. "But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6)."

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Psalms 119 This Is My Comfort In My Affliction

The Waiting Part

Waiting on God to fulfill His promise is something that all Christians will go through during our time here on Earth. At times the waiting can seem not long at all; especially when God comes through on a promise quickly. There may have been a little time of suspense when you are not quite sure if He is going to come through. Then all of a sudden bam! God made a way and we can sing our songs of praise and life is wonderful again. But a funny thing happens the longer you walk with the Lord. The trials start to get harder and the times between the spoken deliverance and the manifestation of the promise start to get longer. This is when the hard part starts. Welcome to what I like to call the fellowship of His sufferings.

Buried In The Dirt

Psalm 119:49-50 says "Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life." Christian suffering can take many different forms. God can use divorce, job loss, rebellious children, and any number of things to 1) develop you into the image of Christ, 2) have everything work out for His glory and 3) deepen your faith and cause you to be a living testimony to others of the power of God. That is God's game plan, however, surviving that and coming out to the other side of victory can be long at times. What happens if you come down with a sickness that the doctors say will be with you for years? You know that God has given you a promise of healing, but when will that happen? When we are buried deep in the dirt is when feelings of loneliness, abandonment, doubt, and depression can easily take over. When I had my period of burial I used to feel guilty for being angry at God for the situation I was in. I couldn't understand why God would tell me one thing and yet it seems that everything around me was in complete contradiction to the promise of God. It is very easy to listen to Satan whisper the lies, that you are forgotten, you would have been better off sinning rather than walking in holiness and suffering. I have learned that when Satan starts talking then I needed to start talking back to him the word of God.

Developing Roots

Getting honest with yourself and God is vital to coming out of your period of waiting. Don't be afraid of having those hard conversations with yourself and God about how you feel. Don't be afraid of feeling negative emotions! I remember thinking that if I felt any kind of negativity or doubt then I was sinning. On top of dealing with really hard things that would make me cry, now there was this additional burden of pretending to God and myself that all was well. Because God forbid if anything other than a positive thought crossed my mind at any point in time. But you know what I learned, God gave me my emotions, the good and the bad. In fact, we all were made in God's image, so because God can feel anger so can we. If God can feel hurt, despair, jealousy, then so can we. You know a funny thing happened, God wasn't surprised by my feelings. Instead, He took my feelings head-on and gave me peace, joy, and grace instead. I learned that I can go to Him and lay everything down at the alter. I would ask God the hard questions of why is this happening to me? Sometimes He would give me an answer and sometimes He didn't. Every time I went to God with my doubts and fears, He gave me faith and grace in exchange. God is no respecter of persons, if He did it for me, He will do it for you. Getting buried in the dirt also taught me that His grace was indeed sufficient for me. Although God didn't remove the thorn in my flesh, His grace gave me the ability to endure the hardship. In fact, I really believe, that is the true definition of grace. Grace is the sacred ability to endure hardships as a good soldier in Christ.

The Final Fruit

What then is the purpose of God for the trials? Well, Paul said in Romans 5:3-5 "And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope. 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".

Once you made it through the fire of testing, one of the main things it produces in the life of the Christian is an unshakeable hope in Christ. There is nothing like having a steadfast companion that you can lean on and run to whenever things go bad. For some people that is a parent, or childhood friend, or spouse. However, sometimes God will remove those people out of your life so that you can learn to lean, trust, and run to Christ instead. During the dark times, when depression weighs on you like a dark wet blanket. The Holy Spirit will shine forth in your heart with a scripture or a song to drive the darkness away. That is why I love Psalms 119 because it goes down the path of trial but the writer turned to God's word every step of the way. It is ok to remind God of His promise to you, and it is ok to be weak because when you are weak, then He is strong. I'm going to end this post with the opening verse again. Say it to yourself and keep His word in your heart.

Psalms 119:49-50 Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life.

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