Hope Does Not Disappoint
Meet my dog, Hope! I'm in there, too, holding Myrrh who so wants out of the picture!
Hope is a basset hound/St. Bernard mix (probably wouldn't have guessed that one). She's a "woot woot" from a farm where there lived a basset hound, and, you guessed it...a St. Bernard. Not quite a designer breed, but probably should be. She's a sweetie. Gentle, mellow, and loving...with no drool.
At the time we got her, my husband and I were going through a tough time with our son who was overcoming autism. Daily calls from school, tantrums, you get the picture. When we came up with names for her, hope was on the list. Because we needed some. We shared the names with a good friend who pointed out, "… hope does not disappoint". Hope got her name. And was cute and furry, too.
Since we got her, I think a lot about what it means for "hope to not disappoint".
Ever think about what it would look like to not get disappointed? Is that even possible?
It Happens
You have your hopes up and then some tough stuff comes up, or something doesn't go the way you thought it would, then...bam... disappointment comes dogging you (dumb pun intended).
Sometimes it's disappointment in what somebody else said or did...or didn't do.
Here's a big one...disappointment when waiting for something that just seems to take a really, really, ...really long time...and it doesn't ever seem to happen.
One day, I was thinking about why I get disappointed when I got a nudge in my thoughts.
Felt like God said in the kindest way..."You put expectations on what, how, and when things should happen. Give Me your expectations, let Me give you hope. Let Me take care of the who, what, where, when and how. Expectations lead you to disappointments. Hope in Me never will."
Trading Expectation for Hope
Sounded like a good trade to me. It happened little by little, but one by one, I let go of my expectations. Big ones, too, like...
my expectation on the timing for my son's healing...knowing it was a journey and a process and God was in control
my expectation of others to understand what we were going through...God knew every second of our day
my expectation for people to know what to say or do for help...God would put the right people at the right time with the right help in our life
When I feel disappointment heading over my way, I think about my expectations... and give them over.
And then remember...Hope does not disappoint.
