Where do I find Hope?

I was looking for a word to share on this last day of the first week of Advent – the week when we traditionally consider hope, as we’ve been doing all week. I was typing along, happy as a lark when I went to find a verse to finish up what I was writing. I checked my list of “hope” verses and went to Psalm 62:5 and something jumped out at me I had never seen before: “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him.” Did you see it? David didn’t say, “my hope is IN Him, he said, “my hope comes FROM Him.” No wonder we struggle so much to maintain hope – we are looking within for hope rather than looking to Him for hope. God is our source of hope. He doesn’t expect us to grit our teeth and hope out of our own constitution, He gives us hope – just as He gives us life and breath and our daily bread, just as He gives us peace and Joy and comfort and strength and encouragement.

But how? I believe the answer is a few verses down: “One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that You, O God, are strong, and that You, O Lord, are loving” (v. 11, 12). He gives us hope as He speaks to our hearts – but not just assurances that everything is going to be okay – He speaks to us about Himself. He tells us who He is and what He is able to do. He tells us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He tells us that nothing in all of creation can ever separate us from His love. And He proved it on the cross and in an empty tomb.

I was going to tell you that if hope is hard to find, you need to look for hope by looking to God – kind of like, pulling up your bootstraps of hope. But this verse says that hope comes from Him – so if we are low on hope, we need only to ask. He is a generous, gracious God and He delights in giving His children what they need. Hope is a gift from your loving Father, but you won’t find it under a tree or wrapped in a box with a pretty red ribbon. It’s the whisper in your heart that says, “You are mine Beloved. I will give you all the hope you need.”