Tuesday, January 23, 2007

God is Our Hope

For You are my hope, O Lord God;
You are my trust from my youth.
Psalm 71:15

I asked Jesus to come into my heart when I was six years old. I had an unwavering faith . . . until I was seven. My father's leaving our family set into motion circumstances that I allowed to take me away from that faith, and I spent the next two decades walking along a rebellious path.

But an interesting thing happened. Even though I had walked away from God, I learned later that He had never walked away from me. That faith that I had as a six-year-old girl eventually proved to be true and worthy of trust.

When I was twenty-nine, I recommitted my life to the Lord, and as I looked back over those twenty-plus years, I realized that God had protected me and provided for me and blessed me in spite of my turning from Him. That "trust from my youth" had sustained me even when I was far from deserving it.

God was indeed my hope then--as a six year old and as a rebellious teen and as a young adult.

And God is my hope today.

Have hope in God with childlike trust and faith, whether you've known Him for decades or days.

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