Hope / Mrs Stephanie Tucker

Mrs Stephanie Tucker

Pastor's Wife

The Way of Life Baptist Church

Clayton, SC

Just recently, our choir sang the wonderful song by Ron Hamilton, My Hope Is Jesus.  I was so touched by this song during practice that it got me to thinking… what do we hope in?  We often say, “I hope you feel better soon” or “I hope this recipe turns out right”.  As Christians, who or in what do we place our hope?  The Dictionary definition of hope is, 1) a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen: 2) A feeling of trust.  
Before the choir sang, I shared with them one of my favorite passages.  Lamentations 3:21-26, “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.  The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.”
Our trust does not have to be in our circumstances or in the world around us, our HOPE is in JESUS!!!  He is our great God and Savior.  We can rest everything in Him.  God will never leave us nor forsake us and He has promised to always be with us through everything we go through.  I don’t know about you but, I often rely on my own strength, knowledge, and abilities to do the work of the Lord.  You already know what the outcome is… I fall flat on my face.  LOL I am so thankful for verse 22, the Lord’s mercies and compassions are new every morning.  Great is HIS faithfulness.  I love these precious promises!!!  Verse 25 tells us that it is good for us to wait on the Lord.  How many times are we tempted to go ahead of God’s plan?  In our impatience we make a hasty decision and hope for a good outcome.  Most likely, the consequences are not in our favor?    My husband has often said, “Our waiting time is God’s working time”.  I am so thankful that I can have the hope that God is working all things for my good and for HIS glory.  We can rest assured that Jesus truly is our HOPE!!!  
The chorus to My Hope Is Jesus goes like this, “My hope is Jesus - the anchor of my soul, the ruler of the universe, the One Who's in control. He saved me, and He will keep me till the end. The rock of my salvation - on Christ I will depend. MY HOPE IS JESUS!!!  I pray that as you read this, you will be encouraged that you, too have that same Hope.  Jesus never fails, He is our rock, our anchor, the ruler of this crazy world, He is in control.  Praise the Lord for the HOPE that lieth in us!!!