Have you ever desired something so intensely, but God never let it come to pass? Maybe it was healing for a loved one who passed away anyways or provision for a loan payment and it never came so you lost your business.
I'm not going to lie, I know these things happen because they happened to me. So does that mean that there are some promises that God never keeps?
The Bible makes it very clear that God is a promise-maker and a promise-keeper 100 percent of the time. Hebrews 10:23 says, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." So what are we to do when we feel like God has let us down and it's hard to trust in Him again?
It must be clear to us always that God keeping His promises does not always equate to us getting what we ask for or what we think the Bible wants us to know. Sure, we want healing, breakthrough, financial provision and success, but God has His ways and His ways will always make more sense.
Our hope is for sure
Things may not always turn around our way and yes it will hurt us, even maim and destroy us, but we serve a God upon whom our faith and hope can be firmly planted. It is never God's intention for us to be hurt - the world and our flawed circumstance are what hurt us, not God -- but to build us up in knowing Him more and experiencing Him best.
And because of this, our hope can be firmly set on knowing that we serve a faithful God who makes all things (even the bad, ugly and depressing) work together for the good of those who love Him, and that in Him the victory is already won.
Our desires are not our hope
Our hope lies not in the things of this world -- not in relationships, material things and not even in religion -- because all these things fade away. The past few months, I have been fighting to win a house that holds sentimental value to me. I've been fighting with verses, prayers and fasting to get the house papers cleared, but after months and a lot of monetary investment, the house still isn't mine.
At one point, God reminded me that as much as He wanted me to have the house, the last thing He wanted was for me to replace God for a house. I was on the borderline of idolatry because my hope was in the wrong thing.
Hope is a Person
Hebrews 10:23 tells us, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." Our confession of hope is not in a what, but a who. We put our hope not in the object of healing, not in our faith goals and not in ourselves, but in Jesus Christ. He is the author and perfecter of our faith.
If we are to hope for anything, let us hope in this -- that whatever comes our way will not lead us to self-satisfaction, better success, nicer feelings or bigger estates. Our hope is set on the idea that everything leads us to Christ and a deeper relationship with Him. Beyond that there is nothing better.
If we hold on to God's promise, we will find ourselves slipping away every now and then, but when we hold on to God, our grip gets a whole lot stronger, not just in Him but in His promises as well.
