What to Do When You're Afraid to Hope

Cassia and Riley Palmer wanted to be parents for

years. After the fertility treatments didn't work, they

turned to adoption and waited. Then the call came. An agency

had twin baby boys, born that day, and the Palmers could adopt

them. They had 48 hours to make it They scrambled to raise $45,

000 in two days, then booked flights to Indiana to go meet

their sons. They got to the hospital ready to bring their

boys home, but the birth mother had changed her mind. A nurse

met them at the door and would not let them into the room. The

boys they had already loved were not theirs. Cassia and Riley

flew home with empty arms and a fear a lot of us know, the fear

of ever letting yourself hope again. We'll come back to what

happened to the Palmers, but

first, welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm

Bart Leger. I've been with people so bruised by

disappointment that they'd made a decision, mostly without

realizing it, to stop hoping. Hope had cost them too They'd

prayed for the healing or for the prodigal to come home, and

when it didn't come, something in them closed the door and then

put a lock on it. And I understand that instinct. I

understand that instinct. But for the follower of Jesus, we

have a firm foundation to rest our hope upon. That foundation

is God himself. Maybe you've been there, or you're there now.

After enough letdowns, you decide it's safer to expect

nothing. If you don't get your hopes up, they can't come

crashing down, can they? You watched a prayer go unanswered,

maybe. You trusted someone, and they let you down. So now you

hold everything at a careful distance, bracing for the next

disappointment before it comes. Hope starts to feel like a setup.

Solomon named this ache 3,000 years ago. Listen to Proverbs 13,

12. Hope deferred makes the heart but a dream fulfilled is a

tree of life. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Solomon is

talking about something we've all felt. When you want

something and the waiting stretches on with no end in

sight, it wears on you. God's Word doesn't pretend that away,

and neither will I. look at the second half of the verse. A

dream fulfilled is a tree of life. Hope that comes through

does more than relieve you. It gives life, the kind that grows

and shelters. So the problem was never hope itself. The problem

is where we aim it. When you all your hope on one outcome, one

answer arriving by a certain date, you're betting your heart

on something that might not come. And sometimes it doesn't. Here's

the better ground. God is asking you to hope in Him. Not just in

getting the thing you want from Him. Hoping in an outcome is

fragile. Because outcomes can fall through. Hoping in God is

sure. Because He doesn't fall through. He may not give you the

exact thing on your timeline. He has promised never to leave you

empty. Hope aimed at God has never once returned void. That's

the hope the Palmers finally found. Months later, another

call came. This time, it was a baby girl. Cassius said their

hands were up and they knew the whole thing was out of their

control. They had learned they could not guarantee the outcome.

That part belonged to God. So, scared and hoping anyway, they

flew to New Orleans and met their daughter a few hours after

she was born. When they walked in, the birth mother looked at

them and said, You're here. You're really here.

Notice what changed the second time. They didn't hope less.

They hoped scared. With their hands up, knowing the outcome

was God's to give and not theirs to force. they put their hope

where it couldn't be crushed. And then they walked into that

room anyway. That's what God is inviting you to do. To hope in

Him. Here's today's challenge. Name the hope you've been afraid

to feel. The thing you stopped praying for because it hurt too

much to want it. Bring it back to God today and pray it in a

new way. I still want this and I'm putting my hope in you more

than in the answer. Then take one small step toward hoping

again. A prayer you'd stop praying or a door you'd shut.

You don't have to guarantee the outcome. That was never your job.

Hope in the God who holds it and let Him be the sure thing.

Father, some of us have been scared to hope because hoping

has cost us before. Thank you that you don't shame us for what

happened. You know how deferred hope wears a person down. Teach

us to bring our hopes back to you and rest them on you more

than on any outcome. Be the sure thing under our fragile ones.

And where we've locked a door on hope, give us the courage to

open it again, holding on to you. In Jesus' name, amen. If this

episode encouraged you today, would you share it with someone

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only takes a second and it might make a real difference in

someone's day. Thanks for joining me on Daily Devotions

for Busy Lives. Remember, hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but hope aimed at God will never leave you empty. Keep hoping and

aim it at Him. Come back next time for more encouragement to

help you live grounded in God's truth. Until then, God bless and

have a great day.