I’ve been thinking recently about some ways we are not like sheep. For example, our propensity to want to predict the future, to step ahead of our Shepherd on the path, to even pry the staff from His fingers and point our own way forward. How often have you stumbled through the harder moments in life and thought, Yes, this is where God has me; this is where I’m supposed to be?
Maybe it’s just a me problem, but oftentimes I find myself second-guessing God the minute something seems not to work out or the going gets hard, as if hard is an omen for something not being God. When I dig to the root of the issue, I find a strange combo of hope and fear.
I’m hopeful of something—for something. I’m fearful it won’t happen, or happen the way I want it to. I’m afraid hope will disappoint.
That verse about hope not putting us to shame, in fact, seems like a rather ambitious promise of God (Romans 5:5). There are so many things we hope for, many of which are beautiful, godly desires: a house, a fulfilling job, money for tuition, marriage, a family, the gift of healing, prophecies coming to pass, redemption for things we have lost… on and on. Combine that with verses like Matthew 7:9–11 about the Father giving good gifts, Psalm 37:4 about receiving our desires when we delight in the Lord, and Proverbs 13:12 about a longing fulfilled being a tree of life, and it’s like we are set up to hope for miracles.
If you think about it, without the promise of God and His big heart, the chances of us getting our dreams would be entirely up to coincidence. Maybe you meet your dream spouse, maybe not. Maybe your business takes off, hitting that lucky niche that gives it the fame to reach the rest of the world, or maybe it takes a dive. Maybe the majority of choices seem to work in your favor, or maybe they don’t, like that intersection where the lights are either all green or all red. It would be like playing the game of Life, hoping you spin to win on the right number.
But there is a God, and He does promise good things for us, and He does have an incredible track record of delivering promises: Abraham, father of nations; Joseph, prince of Egypt; Hannah, mother of a prophet; David, king of Israel; and, Jesus, fulfilling the promise of the Old Testament.
But do all promises really come true? Does hope truly never disappoint?
1. DO YOU HAVE A PROMISE?
Sometimes things we hope for today aren’t things we hope for tomorrow. I used to hope I’d become an English educator, but the more I’ve watercolored, blogged, marketed, and pursued professional counseling, the more I’ve realized I don’t actually want to teach The Great Gatsby; I want to help hearts.
Much like kids who outgrow their aspirations to go to space, be onstage, or play in professional league sports, our hearts redefine their own desires and preferences. Sometimes we do end up pursuing the thing we want. Sometimes we find that we feel most fulfilled doing something entirely different.
I think God is prepared for our hearts’ iterations and doesn’t always fulfill our hopes right away because He knows us better than we know ourselves.
But when we do land upon a hope rooted in our identity, our purpose, our reason for belonging on this earth, often God confirms it. Maybe you feel an inner knowing or a sense of peace that, yes, opening a bakery in the Middle East is the way you are to evangelize. Maybe you receive a rhema word, or your desires shift toward that thing. Maybe everything just falls into place for the hope to become possible, and you realize that God’s hand is on that ministry, that home, that community, that choice.
It’s when you have a promise from God that hope becomes more poignant and vulnerable. The Word of God—and your ability to hear Him—is on the line… and with it your desires and sense of fulfillment.
2. DO ALL PROMISES COME TO PASS?
A well-known Christian author once proposed that when you have a promise, God either gives you the strength to bring forth or to forebear.
Her words reminded me of the Hall of Fame passage in Hebrews, when faith was counted as righteousness to “all these” who “did not receive what was promised” (Hebrews 11:39). These men and women “died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).
My young heart feels disappointed already just reading that passage. Does our Father—the kindest, most faithful, loving, all-powerful God—really give promises He doesn’t fulfill? Or maybe He does fulfill them all, just not in our lifetime or the way we hope and expect?
And if that is the case… how is hope truly to never disappoint?
3. WHAT IS GUARANTEED?
I’m wading in the waters of questions I don’t have all the answers to. I’m just another sheep second-guessing my Shepherd on this journey called life.
But I do know wiser, older leaders who believe and have experienced every single word from God come true. Their testimonies give me faith. And I know older people who haven’t. Who answer their own ongoing questions with sentiments of faith like, “His Kingdom is here, and not yet” and “He has answered me; I just can’t see how.”
While I’m no closer to predicting the fulfillment of my own prophetic words now than at the beginning of this blog, I do know a few things for certain:
- God is good. Regardless of whether their promises came to pass or not, the testimonies of older, wiser men and women—who have followed and are following the Holy Spirit—demonstrate joy that is whole, complete. They may still have unfulfilled dreams, but when I listen to them process the story of their life, I’ve never once heard someone express disappointment in where God has taken them.
- God doesn’t waste a single part of our stories. Read the Bible cover to cover, and that truth will anchor your heart. Follow Him for long enough, and you’ll witness it in your own life. Whether you believe suffering happens to you for a reason or that God’s just really good at redemption, every single thread of your story will have meaning… just let Him finish the tapestry.
- The only true way for a promise not to be fulfilled is if you stop following. Prophecies and promises rarely come to pass without our participation. Sometimes they do. But more often than not in the Bible, individuals had their own pivotal role in how a promise came to pass. This is not to frighten ourselves that a promise being fulfilled is up to us… but without our willingness to participate and our obedience in doing what He says—even when it makes no sense—how is He to lead us to greener pastures?
I think hope can disappoint in the moment, maybe even a couple years in a row. But my faith grows stronger each year that, if we continue hoping, hope in Him won’t disappoint. How could it? He’s bigger and better than our hopes.