Two Gifts of Hope

Yesterday, the Lord blessed us with two gifts of hope regarding His provision. They are small and some may even say conincidental, yet I know they are gifts from our loving Father.

David received a referal call to bid on a small residential job. There are two other bids in already and the customer has already given their top dollar amount, which would maybe be enough to pay a month's mortgage. The Hope of daily bread. :)  He gives the estimate tomorrow.

He also received an email with the design for the business cards for the new company we are praying will come to fruition. They look wonderful and have us all excited to begin passing them out. We needed that gift of anticipation. Hope of a future.

I view these as gifts of hope simply because they give us tangible things to remind us of the unchanging promise of the Lord, that He will not forsake us. I should not need these gifts to trust in His faithfulness, yet He knows my weakened heart. He knows that I am prone to doubt. He knows that I am prone to worry. He knows that I need grace.  These gifts do not make His promise more real or count as a "seal" of any kind. He does not need to confirm His love to me. Yet, because of His patience and mercy towards me, his beloved, He has gifted me with all that I need to continue to grow in my faith. 

When we first married, the Lord gave us a verse in Matthew to use as a foundation for the life He was building in us.  "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and burst against that house, and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock." Matthew 7:25 We have that verse engraved on our wedding rings.  Gratefully, we haven't had many times of rain, floods and wind in our marriage. Yet, as we face them now, my heart rejoices that He has given us such a firm foundation on which to stand.

The Solid Rock

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus' name.

When darkness seems to hide His face,

I rest on His unchanging grace.

In every high and stormy gale,

My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,

Support me in the whelming flood.

When all around my sould gives way,

He then is all my Hope and Stay.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand.

All other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand.

words by Edward Mote, 1834

music by William B. Bradbury, 1863