What does hope have to do with setting my house in order?

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Psalm 42:11 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God…”

We’re three weeks into 2015, and I’m still looking at what I need to do to “set my house in order.” It seems logical to me that setting my house in order will mean letting go of some things. However, it will also mean holding fast to some things and encouraging them to grow. One of those things for me is hope.

Those of us who love a prodigal have a very rocky path to walk, but we’re not the only ones. Life shows up for all of us, doesn’t it? And bad things…sometimes even terrible things happen. No wonder the book of Job says, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.” (Job 14:1) It’s not a question of whether tragedy and heartaches are going to come. They are. The question is, “How will I react or respond when they do?”

I guess the answer depends on where I put my hope. In one of David’s beautiful, poignant psalms, he asks, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?” and then he encourages himself by adding, “Hope thou in God.” (Ps 42:11) I have to tell you that my first response when trouble comes is not to just let go and trust in God. I’m more likely to first look at the situation and try to fix it.

When that fails (as it usually does), I begin to look outside myself for help. The places I look are usually other people, a support group, a book, or the Internet. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of those things, I have to wonder why going to my God isn’t always first on the list. Why do I so easily forget the immense, incredible power of prayer?

When I do finally take that burden to the Lord in prayer, I usually have an opinion about how God should answer my prayer and meet that “need.” Don’t be going all “spiritual” on me here. You know you do the same thing. What’s wrong with that when God absolutely does hear and answer our prayers? Won’t He always give us exactly what we need?

The answer to that is a definite yes. However, what we need doesn’t always coincide with what we want. You see, my prayers, even with the best of intentions, can be and often are influenced by fear or my emotions. And that’s a best-case scenario. Sometimes my prayers are contaminated by self-interest and the assumption that I know what’s best in my life and in the lives of others.

It isn’t easy to trust God with the outcome when we’re overwhelmed with fear and the road ahead is dark and ominous. That’s where hope comes in. In our text verse, David’s circumstances were terrible. But remembering the faithfulness of a loving God who cannot fail gave him hope based on faith.

That kind of faith…true, God-honoring faith does what it can and takes the situation to God in prayer. Then faith leaves the outcome with a God who knows better than we do. It’s how we find peace and hope. And it’s part of setting our house in order.

Challenge for Today: What might happen if we, just for today, chose to pray and leave the outcome with God?