The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. —Lamentations 3:25-26 NIV

It’s hard to see hope sometimes. When hope is tucked away and we can’t quite see the glimmer of an answered prayer, we’re left to wonder: Where does it hide/ Where is the hope? Where is the relief, the fresh start, the joy, the offer, the light?

When you’re desperate to hope, looking for it sometimes strains your soul in ways you didn’t know where possible. We are a hopeful people. We hope for hard work to pay off in college degrees. We hope interviews and leads and qualifications will lead to jobs. We hope debt will subside and income will increase. We hope for marriages to improve and families to grow close one again. We hope…we hope.

We spend our days searching for hope, but when we are surrounded by more silence than we want, we struggle with the reality of which Lamentations reminds us: Our hope is in the Lord.

When my heart shakes with disappointment, it’s hard to feel secure. My husband was on a list to come home early from his military deployment, and now he will be delayed four more months. When I received that news, I just wanted him home, here. I had found security in the thought that he would be with me.

But our true security lies in God. Our sense of peace can’t come from a full checking account or through well-laid plans, or even in a circle of friends that surrounds us. Our hope comes when we remember the One who walked before us, the One we should be seeking.

Our hope comes from God’s promises because God doesn’t change, and his promises don’t either.

We do not walk alone, and we do not have to walk aimlessly, ready to be knocked down when the first storm hits. We can feel secure in the knowledge of Jesus – of his saving grace and unconditional love that never ends. We can stand firm because of his steadiness and anticipate what he will do because we know he walks in front of us.

We can wait when we acknowledge the hope we have in Christ. We can expect and anticipate and look forward to what God holds for us in his plans when we remember God’s promises hold true for us, but his timing is his alone. We can wait, trusting that his timing and his purpose and his plan are best.

And when we’re struggling to wait on God, we need to remember that his hope is already with us because his Son has already saved us.

How can you rely on the hope you have in Christ today?