His Promise. My Hope.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

We love to think of this verse as the promise of fulfilled dreams, desires, or answered prayer. As I've been pondering this verse, thinking of what it truly means, I see that it is much more than the hope of "things" we want.

The HOPE we have is not that God is going to give us stuff, answer our prayer, or bless us with riches. The HOPE we have is that His word is true, His death was sufficient, the Cross is real and we will stand before Him, cleansed, new, and in fullness of joy.

What if instead of using this verse to “claim” His promises, we’d hope for God?
What if what we hoped for was not stuff, or wealth, or blessings, but Him?
What if the conviction of things unseen, meant beholding Christ?
What if we believe more than earthly happiness, our God desires to give us eternal bliss?
What if we wanted that more than anything else?

The things unseen are not the fulfillment of dreams on earth, but the promise of salvation! What we hope for is the presence of God.

That all this belief, trust, faith would excite us because in the end, the promise we get to claim, the blessing we receive, the thing we’d get . . . was God?

I fully ask that question as someone who has been asking the LORD for an earthly blessing for 14 months. Broken hearted, eagerly waiting, hoping, longing . . . knowing He can bless me at anytime.

In conviction I ask “Do I want God more than I want ________?”
What if I asked for Him to be near, more than I asked for Him to open my womb?
What if I longed for Him, the way I long to hold a baby in my arms?

What if HE was enough?
My all in all.

What if He is what I hope for? And my faith, my trust, my confidence, was in knowing someday . . . I will see Him.

“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: 
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, 
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)