What Are You Putting Your Hope In?
I’m writing this with about 46 sores on my hands—thanks to this little thing called devil’s disease. I mean…hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD).
My son was running a fever last Sunday. And my husband and I (being the new parents we are) just thought it was because his third tooth was coming in. But alas, a few days later, small red blisters started showing up on his arms, legs, face…and eventually his fingers and toes.
By Wednesday, baby boy and I were BOTH down for the count.
(Side Note: If you’re lucky enough not to have experienced this before…HFMD is a viral illness that comes with a fever, sore throat, painful mouth sores, and rashes on your hands and feet. And of course, it’s highly contagious, so we’ve been quarantining ourselves this whole week.)
When chatting about it with Dr. GPT (if you know you know), it says that it’s “uncommon but not rare” for adults to get it.
And of course, I’m the uncommon case amongst the adult population.
It’s Saturday now, and I have dozens of sores on my hands, feet, face, and, as if that wasn’t enough, inside my mouth.
It hurts to walk. It hurts to wash my hands. It hurts to change Rome’s diaper. And don’t even get me started on citrusy, salty, spicy foods (I won’t be having those for a while)…
But the whole reason this blog exists is because I love documenting what the LORD is teaching me.
He is always teaching His children something—even if that lesson is in the midst of feeling like a leper with 100 sores on your body 🙃
So what is He teaching me now?
He’s teaching me that it’s hopeless putting my hope in anything but Him.
If my hope is in anything else, I’m left anxious, depressed, frustrated, let down, and severely discontent.
For instance…
If my hope were in my health, I’d be frustrated to the nth degree (I’ve been sick five times this year…and we’re only in April).
If my hope were in getting 8 hours of sleep each night, I’d be playing myself (I have a seven-month-old who still wakes up 1-2 times a night).
And if my hope were in my husband, kid, family, or friends, I’d constantly be let down because no human could ever satisfy my endless list of wants and needs.
But looking back on my life, these were all things that I DID put my hope in…
If I got a cold a year ago, or didn’t get enough sleep, or got in an argument with my husband…
I’d be on a struggle bus with a one-way ticket to self-pity town—and everyone around me would know it.
But now, I feel a little different…
I feel… even-keel. Steady. Content.
Not all the time. But a lot of the time? I do.
I think King David understood what I’m trying to say…
In Psalm 42:11, he cries out, “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.”
His soul was downcast… “in turmoil,” he says. And yet he flips the script and consciously puts his hope in God: “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”
So why should we put our hope in the LORD?
Because He’s our shepherd.
And if He’s our shepherd, we’re His sheep.
Which means He will take care of us no matter what.
I was reading and meditating on Psalm 23 this morning, and it opens with: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
The original Hebrew for “I shall not want” can be translated, “I will not lack.”
And when you put that together, it’s:
The LORD is my shepherd; I will not lack.
What won’t we lack?
Provision (food, water, shelter), protection (from the evil one), and guidance (in the way we should—or shouldn’t—go).
PRAISE JESUS for this. Because, like sheep, we are so utterly helpless, dependent, and woefully in need of a shepherd.
Without a shepherd, sheep would starve, stray from their flock, or get attacked by a coyote.
But with a shepherd, they stay fed, looked after, and safe.
And in our case, without a shepherd, we’re directionless, restless, and feel an intense burden to handle everything ourselves. Without a shepherd, we seek joy and contentment—and can’t find it. Without a shepherd, we seek earthly desires and wind up feeling empty and unfulfilled at the end of the day.
But WITH a shepherd, we feel an unexplainable peace, joy, and contentment.
But God doesn’t stop there…
The LORD doesn’t just offer provision, protection, and guidance.
He offers eternal life.
THAT is the thing that keeps me grounded when things don’t go my way.
Because I’m not putting my hope and happiness in this life alone…
I have ETERNITY to look forward to.
Paul tells the people of Corinth: “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19).
Translation: If we only have this life to look forward to, we should feel sorry for ourselves.
Why?
Because this life is a mist. A mist that comes with quite a bit of suffering—whether that be a painful pregnancy or labor, a broken-down body, broken relationships, the death of a loved one, poverty, or, in my case right now: 100 sores on your body.
James puts it this way: “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14).
If our earthly life eventually vanishes, how silly would it be to put our hope/confidence/joy/peace in anything other than Jesus and His promise of eternal life with Him?
Promises of “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1).
Promises that, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:4-5).
What does this mean for us?
If we put our hope in our Shepherd—in YAHWEH—we can be content…
In our suffering.
In sickness and in health.
Around people that we love—and people that are hard to love.
We can be content in every circumstance that YAHWEH has for us.
Because “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
He’s got us. He’s looking out for us. And He will work all things together for good.
One last thing…
Because of scripture, we know our Shepherd’s character.
Moses shares this in Exodus 34:6-7: “A God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.”
These are beautiful reasons to trust the LORD as our Shepherd.
He’s merciful and gracious.
He’s slow to anger.
He’s abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
And something that I often like to remind myself is that HE created the universe and everything in it.
Meaning: He is all-powerful. All-knowing. All-PERFECT.
He’s the reason you have breath in your lungs right now.
“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36)
What better thing could we put our hope in?
