All the Single Ladies: This Hope Does Not Disappoint by Stacey Salsbery

God-Centered Hope Never Fails

According to Scripture, we aren’t supposed to hope in the things we can see, but in the things we can’t see (2 Cor. 4:18). I understand that hoping in the unseen seems easier said than done. But the things we presently see will fail us, while the heavenly things we can’t see never will. “For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2. Cor. 4:18).

The word transient means temporal. The things that we can touch and grab hold of are not permanent. They are fleeting—here today and gone tomorrow. But God is eternal. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8); nothing about God is fleeting. Therefore, our hope in Christ is secure.

God’s Word is eternal. God’s reign and kingdom are eternal. God’s abundant love is eternal. Giving credence to the gospel of Jesus Christ as the most solid foundation there is. To place our hope in the assurance of God’s promises is like stepping into wet concrete with both feet and not moving for three days.

Only God has the power to make and keep such vast and comprehensive promises, granting Him the welldeserved title, God of hope (Rom. 15:13). We can hope in God because He is faithful to fulfill every promise to us through faith in Jesus Christ (Heb. 10:23).

David’s Hope Rested in God

There are times when it’s impossible to see how God will fulfill His promises through our messes. But He will, and He does, and that is the believer’s unwavering hope.

David is an excellent example of someone who repeatedly put his hope in God even in heavy trials. David sang in Psalm 39:7, “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.”

David waited for all kinds of things. He waited for God to make him king. He waited for God to give him a home. He waited for God to bring justice to his enemies. He waited for God to vindicate his reputation. He waited for God to provide answers, and yet, he worshiped during the wait.

Ultimately, David didn’t put his hope in any of the things he waited for. His hope rested in God. We can hope God will do certain things in specific ways, but our hope can’t reside in outcomes. Our hope must rest in God.

God-Centered Hope Never Disappoints

If you feel like you’re constantly swimming through disappointments and drowning in unmet expectations, then may I suggest, dear sister (as a fellow swimmer myself), that you might be anchoring your hope in the wrong place. Hope that does not disappoint is hope that centers on the Blesser, not the blessings.

Our hope is set on broken things when we fix our eyes on earthbound things. And broken things

never satisfy. Yet the Scriptures were written that we might have hope (Rom. 15:4)—joy-filled, confident, abundant, absolute hope. A hope that is beyond our wildest expectations.

It’s perfectly fine to hope for a different kind of world because this one is clearly broken. God’s kingdom, however, is not broken. Even when we can’t see it, Heaven rules, and Christ reigns, so we put our hope in God.

When our hope is in the right place—sealed in the assurance of a loving and faithful God—we will not be disappointed. It’s when we set our hopes on anything less than God that we find ourselves defeated. We can hope for things, but we can’t secure our hope in those things; our only hope is God.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” (Psalm 42:11)

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