Hope. It’s vital to our emotional and spiritual well-being. We hope for situations or circumstances to change; we hope for physical and emotional healing; we hope for personal and financial success. As a Christ-follower, I have a hope that I have an eternal home with my Saviour.
Hope is a noun, but it is also a verb. We have hope (noun) and a belief that our circumstances or situation can change. We hope (verb) for change to happen.
About a month ago, I was at the dentist with my youngest son, Zackery. Zackery had 4 teeth extracted (over 2 appointments) and the dentist was preparing to put in a spacer to ensure the new teeth would have enough space to come in where they’re supposed to. The dentist noticed that Zackery’s teeth had moved since the first two extractions and there wasn’t enough room between two teeth for him to insert the spacer. My heart kind of fell when the dentist suggested he put in a rubber spacer to move the teeth apart and then we would have to come back for a third appointment. I appreciate that our dentist is also a Christian and he often prays for his patients when he’s working on them. He prayed for Zackery and specifically that those two teeth would move a little bit, and Zackery agreed to wait in the chair for another half hour. After the dentist prayed, he and I talked about hope, and the definition of faith given in Hebrews 11:1: “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” We hoped and prayed that the teeth would move in that half hour. We had faith that our God was big enough to make that happen!
We hoped, prayed, and change happened! The teeth had moved enough in that half hour and the dentist was able to insert the spacer and a third appointment was avoided.
This past spring, my aunt was diagnosed with Stage 3 esophageal cancer. She underwent rigorous chemo and radiation treatment for 28 straight days and had to have a feeding tube put in for about 2 months. She went for a check-up this past week and has been declared cancer free. We hoped, prayed, and change happened.
Around the same time as I heard the news about my aunt, my sister-in-law learned that she had breast cancer. A lumpectomy was not enough and recently had a mastectomy in order to try and remove all of the cancer cells. We heard today that she is cancer free. We hoped, prayed, and change happened.
I have another friend who has just finished radiation treatment for ovarian cancer. We are hoping and praying for change for her as well.
God is good. He is the author of hope and change.
Psalm 62:5-8
5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
for my hope is in him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will not be shaken.
7 My victory and honor come from God alone.
He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
8 O my people, trust in him at all times.
Pour out your heart to him,
for God is our refuge.
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