Since I’m still unemployed in Chicago, it’s been very difficult for me to not put my hope in finding a job. One of my ongoing struggles has been to not place my hope in people, friendships and relationships. This past week, God has really reminded me that when I place my hope in anything except Christ, I will end up disappointed, and often very broken. After all, everything other thing I can place my hope in is temporary. Only faith in God is eternal. My first couple days I was in Chicago, I kept thinking that my summer would officially start once I got a job. Lie. Two and a half weeks later I still don’t have a job. It would be so easy for be to get frustrated and upset at this fact, but there has been so much refinement and growth in the past three weeks to get caught up in the fact that I don’t have a job. God has rooted through lots of sin issues and pointed out where we’re going to go this summer, if I would have been getting up each morning and going to a job, this growth may not have happened.

Isaiah 40:31 reads, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” This verse is yet another reminder of the gift I have been given through placing my faith in Jesus Christ. When I place my hope in the Lord, I receive strength that is contrary to my flesh; I am given energy to continue to go, even my body, and the world are telling me that I need to give up. Most significantly in my life recently has been that when I place my hope in Jesus, I know that everything is being worked for my good (Romans 8:28). So yes, I have wandered the streets of Chicago for 2.5 straight weeks looking for a job without one, but God is using this to grow me, to refine me and to show His love for me. Without hope, I would not be able to believe this.

My prayer is that I continue to place my hope in Jesus; that I be able to see situations that way that He sees them. And my prayer for you is that you start to place your hope in Christ – He is worth it. When we place our hope in Him, our entire identity becomes about Him, not ourselves. When we place our hope in Him, it’s Him that we’re living for, and to me, that’s the only worthwhile thing to live for.