My Misplaced Hope

My life gets off track and I feel like quitting when my hope is in the wrong place.

• When my great hope is that people like me, that means when someone doesn’t like me, I get depressed.
• When my highest hope is that I have financial security, that means every rise in prices, every unexpected expense, every decrease in income is devastating.
•   When my hope is all wrapped up in a healthy, loving family, that means sickness or dysfunction or infertility or divorce puts me into a freefall.
• When my hope rests in my security and comfort, then the threat of an earthquake or flood or terrorist attack keeps me up at night.
• When my highest hope is in relationships, then the loss of a friend, a betrayal, a breakup leaves me empty and desperate.
• When my hope is in my own ability, and then I come in 2^nd or 12^th, or I’m not the one chosen, it crushes me.
• When my hope is resting on my level of self-esteem, then every time I’m mistreated, taken advantage of, disrespected, ignored, it throws me into a pit of despair.

My hope is in danger of being shaken, stolen, or drained away unless it is resting on the living God (1 Tim 4:10). It is hard work. It is a struggle to keep my hope in the right place. Because I’m human, I tend to pile my hope in other places. They may be good places, like church or home or work or achievement. So it takes some effort to drag my hope off the wrong pedestal, and stack it all on the Lord. Other voices call for my attention and trust. Other passions creep into first place.

For this I labor and strive, that I have put my hope in the living God.