“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.”
Psalm 130:5 (NIV)
Hope is frail when we take our eyes off of God, which seems to be a recurrent theme throughout scripture. Samson was given the gift of physical strength, and won every fight against the Philistine oppressors. He was called by God to deliver his people until he was deceived by a woman named Delilah. She led him into a trap where he was captured, blinded and shackled. Samson and his people began losing hope for their freedom, but God wasn’t finished yet.
The Lord restored Samson’s strength one last time, to break out of his shackles, and blindly find the support pillars of the arena, where thousands of Philistines gathered to mock and watch him die, but instead, Samson regained strength and delivered his people through his own death that day.
Hannah, in the Old Testament, was beyond the age for child bearing, yet she never stopped hoping. She finally gave birth to a son and Samuel became one of the greatest prophets and advisors in all Israel. In the New Testament, a similar story is told about Elizabeth, who had the same kind of hope as Hannah. In her advanced age, Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist. Scripture teaches us that age and time are no match for hope. God hears our prayers and knows how long we have waited, and does beyond whatever we hoped for.
The Exodus story is the best example of how hope is often challenged. Moses did exactly what God told him to do, and told Pharaoh exactly what God told him to say, but things didn’t happen as Moses and the people expected.
Pharaoh rejected Moses’ plea and stopped supplying straw to the slaves, so that they had to gather their own straw to make bricks, and their labor became twice as difficult. The people were furious with Moses and blamed him for making their lives even worse. Moses simply obeyed God and wondered what God was doing. The ultimate plan of God was to free them from slavery, but they lost hope, by focusing only on their present hardships.
When prayers don’t seem to be answered, instead of giving us the reasons why, God gave us stories in scripture to rekindle our hope. He reminds us that He has the best plan even when we don’t understand it.
It’s a theme that echoes through scripture. Peter and Elijah, both lost hope for a moment in time, when things seemed to be getting worse. Peter driven by his fears, denied knowing Jesus, and then hid himself in shame. Elijah hid in a cave from those seeking to kill him, and begged God to take his life. Both men had great victories lying ahead of them, but needed their hope in God restored.
The exodus story shows us that people faced the most difficult challenges before the greatest miracles happened. It’s a lesson of finding patience to keep hope while we wait. Moses and the people had no clue that God was planning something so big, that the laws of nature would be defied. Parting the waters of the sea provided the greatest deliverance in history. The Lord is a big God, who has a bigger and better plan than we could ever imagine, as we trust and keep our hope in Him.
Lord, help us to wait and to act with hope for your better plan and the victory that lies ahead. Amen
