Rest & Hope (Stories)
Written by Roxy Neufeld
I read that phrase, “Rest in Hope” a few weeks ago and have been pondering it ever since. As I have let it sit with me, God has been expanding my understanding of what it means. We like to be in control and when we have hopes and desires of how we see our lives and our futures we often actively try to make things go our way.
Right now, I’m at a crossroads, I lost my job because of COVID. It was a job that I enjoyed, that I felt I was good at and could make a difference. I wasn’t looking for a change. But change hit under circumstances that I (and my employers) had no control over.
As hard as that is, I am now feeling the very soft voice of God telling me to rest, to rest in the hope that He is still in control and that He has a plan for me, that He can see around the corner to something that I can’t even imagine. I have learned this before, but every time my life takes an unexpected turn, it seems I need a reminder.
I think that right now is a time where people are feeling that a lot of things, even simple things, are out of our control. The truth that we can hold onto though is that God never loses control and He is never surprised by the twists and turns in our lives. Our plans may fail, but God has better plans for us than we could ever dream of. Lots of people might know Jeremiah 29:11. The Message puts it like this:
“I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”
God is speaking to the Israelites when they were in a season they had not wanted, hoped for, or even expected. But God has a plan for them though and the really cool part was that the Israelites had a role in it as well. I think that a lot of people aren’t as familiar with the very next verses:
“When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen. When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.”
I think that often God uses the challenging times to bring us closer to Him. He wants us to find Him, to talk to Him, He’s waiting with open arms. He wants us to Rest in Hope. The hope that God is in control, hope that God knows what’s next, hope that He has a plan, hope of life now and life for eternity. And some more specific hopes that we have especially now: hope to meet together once again, hope to embrace one another, hope to share meals together, hope for….. you fill in the blank. A Bob Goff quote that I also read recently says “Don’t believe hope is lost just because change hasn’t come yet.” I believe that we can rest in hope of the future God has for us!
Seek God, Rest in Hope