“But I will hope continually and will praise You yet more and more.”  – Psalm 71:14

I didn’t wake up expecting God’s provision this morning. I was coughing, my ears plugged up by a cold, and my heart heavy with regret from the night before. I went to bed frazzled by an argument with one of my children. It kept me awake all night like a nightmare waiting to frighten me each time I closed my eyes.

Merriam-Webster defines hope as a “desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment.”

My deep soul desire for my children is that they grow up knowing and serving God all their days.

Last night, I wanted to clamp my hands around my child’s future and arm wrestle it to the ground by sheer force of my will. I wanted to stand in the way of the devastation I imagined as a sure outcome of decisions made. I wanted my hope to be enough.

Or was I wishing?

Hope in myself is a birthday-candle bid – full of whimsy and uncertainty.

Hope in myself is like a thirsty traveler running to an imagined oasis in the desert just to scoop up a mouthful of sand.

Hope in myself produces frustration and a gaggle of ungodly words.

Forgive me, Lord.

We all experience moments like this, when we place our hope in things or people or ourselves, when we cease to place our trust in the Lord.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water.”

What a great reminder. We are refreshed by Him, our Living Water, when we choose to make Him our hope. We are blessed when we put our trust in Whom it belongs.

I am believing Him for my children’s paths. He is my hope. He is my confidence.

Lord, I praise You continually for Your grace that allows me to peel my fingers once again off my kids’ futures. I am grateful that You have the whole world in Your capable, loving hands. You are good and You are God – the only hope that is true.