Having Hope When The Answer Falls Through
As I sat in my room one morning, thinking about the past year and looking forward to 2020, I couldn't help but think of a few things left undone. I am a person who prefers to not have loose ends. I like for everything to have a period or an exclamation point. But what happens when you’re left with question marks?
My husband and I have a dream and a vision. Something we’ve prayed about, dreamed about, and talked about for hours on end. We were moving forward in the initial steps of this God-given dream with support from the right people, which included confirmations all along the way that God was about to fulfill what He placed in our hearts.
We took all the right steps on our end. Beyond praying and seeking God, we made the phone calls, had the conversations face to face, drove to meetings. Everything that was asked of us, we did! Let me just say, this was an exciting time of walking in faith and trusting God was leading and directing our steps. This was awesome!!
Then, one day, my husband and some of our supporters showed up to a meeting with a person to take the next step in this exciting new dream. Here we go, this is happening!!!
And then boom...the hammer fell. The person they met with backed out. No reason given. No excuse. No explanation. Just no.
How do you go from a dream being confirmed with this very same person down to the tee, to just no?
We spent the next several months with no answers. Confused. Hurt. And left with a feeling that we had done something wrong. In our hearts we knew without a shadow of a doubt what God had laid on our hearts, but you can’t help but wonder if you missed it somehow.
But we knew we didn’t miss it. So, we have chosen to hang onto the promises God has given us. To this day, we have never been given an explanation from that person. So, what do you do?
Through this situation, I’ve come to realize that I don’t have to trust people with our lives, situations or future. I only have to trust God with those people in my life. With this specific person, what I learned from trusting Him is, they are not a person of their word, but God is. They may be scared, full of fear of man, and worry about what other people think, but God is not. They may be tactically manipulating to try and get an outcome that they want, but God is not.
God is faithful.
God is honest.
God is true.
God doesn’t manipulate.
God seeks truth.
God doesn’t fear man.
God rewards those that are faithful.
Those truths are what we must hang on to. Do we have all the answers to this situation? No! So, what do we do now?
Trust God. Leave it at His feet. And pray blessings on the ones that may have chosen to get in the way of what God wants to do. God will still get His way, but when people try to dismantle what He wants to do, it doesn’t go unnoticed by Him. God is a good record keeper. He keeps the score on the wrongs done to us. And He is a God of justice! So, leave it with Him.
As far as my husband and I’s God-given dream, we hold onto the promises God gave us and keep our hearts open to even bigger promises. We trust. We wait. But in the waiting we keep seeking. Waiting isn’t a passive season. Waiting is a verb, an action. So, we can’t just sit idle thinking life will just happen to us. We must keep doing the work God calls us to today and pursuing the dreams He puts on our hearts, trusting that God will provide bigger and better than anything that came before.
“And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.” -Psalms 39:7
Change those question marks to a period, and that period is the cross. The answers will reveal themselves. The truth always comes out. And, more than likely, you will be thankful to realize that it was God’s hand of protection and not His rejection.
His promise to us in Hebrews 13:5 is that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is trustworthy. Let Him hold onto the loose ends. I promise that He will make them connect and it will be better than you could have ever imagined. He will never take back a word promised to us.
I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose that Jesus Christ has called me to fulfill and wants me to discover. I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead. I run straight for the divine invitation of reaching the heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus. -Philippians 3:12-14
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jaime Roever is a published writer, public speaker, ordained minister, and justice seeker that has a love to minister to women of all ages. She is a communicator at heart and is passionate about sharing the word and it’s practical truths that apply to real everyday life and how God will meet you there. Jaime lives in Texas with her husband Matt, and she is a mom to two sons. Jaime is Cooper certified as a physical trainer and is a self defense instructor, providing women with the tools to live their best life. She also works with the Special Victims Unit for the San Antonio Police Department as an advocate for victims of domestic violence.