Job 6:8 For oh that He would grant my desire, and my petition might come, and the Lord would grant my hope!

      I thought aloud and said, “Why do I hope so much, and nothing comes of it?” I truly needed to ask myself whether I was living in the Lord’s hope or simply wishing for things to happen. Hope gives life and power to faith, and if there is no faith coming forth as a result of our hope in God, it is all wishful thinking. We can find ourselves in the deepest oubliette of our making and become imprisoned by the hopelessness we are immersed in. Prov.13:12a Delayed hope makes one sick at heart. Delayed hope also creates an insouciant attitude toward hoping in the ability of God for one’s life. We need an honest faith-filled hope in God that will allow us to see what God wants us to hope for in Him. Psalm 33:20 We put our hope in the LORD. He is our help and our shield.

      The unintended consequence that can happen when we are frustrated in hope is that we start working out God’s plan in our strength and creating a revision of our frustrated thoughts. Sarai was frustrated with God’s plan and promised that she would have a child and become the mother of many nations. She eventually wrote her own action plan to help God along. Serai told Abram to have a child with Sarai’s servant so that her frustration would go away. (paraphrased) Gen. 16:2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go into my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. Of course, the legacy of Serai’s frustrated hope resulted in a decision that is still felt today. Ishmael the offspring of Serai and Abram’s selfish reasoning has been causing wars and strife throughout the Middle East and beyond to this day. Gen. 16:12 This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.

      King Saul had been instructed to utterly destroy the Amalekites and everything they owned from the city, and people, to the livestock. Because of fear and peer pressure, Saul rewrote the orders that the Lord had given him through the prophet Samuel. When Samuel eventually showed up he heard something that should not have been there. 1Sam 15:14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” Saul’s frustration while waiting for Samuel created fear within his soul. Saul was afraid of the people, so he allowed the raiding party to bring the sheep and oxen as a sacrifice for the Lord. 1Sam. 15:24. Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. The unintended consequence for Saul was that he would lose the kingdom to another who would follow God’s instructions.

      This is why we need to keep our hope in Christ and not in our capabilities to pull off the project. The Word of God is full of people who tried to do God’s plan their way and only ended up with frustrated lives and hopelessness. Our confidence and hope need to be in the cross, and all that Christ did for us through His accepted sacrifice. We are never going to get it right by the constant observance of the law. This is why we needed a Saviour who satisfied the demands of the law through His blood. The law is a guide, instruction, or signpost that leads us to Christ, where we accept Him by faith. Gal. 3:24 Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. This is the fundamental difference between having my hope in God and wishing for stuff to happen.

      Before I knew the Lord, I was separated from Him because of my sin and I had no eternal hope. I had an eternal existence, but no hope for that existence. Eph. 2:12 That at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, not having hope and without God in the world. Life was frustrating because the emptiness within my soul could not be filled by all I was wishing for. I needed a foundation that could only come through Christ the Lord. Once Jesus moved into my soul I could now hope in God and pray for the issues of life to be taken care of and I could do it by faith.

      Do I still find myself in times of frustration? Yes, absolutely. However, I have a God-given plan for that frustration, and that is to settle down in the Lord’s peace and begin to cast my cares upon Him. 1Pet. 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. After I cast my cares upon the Lord, then through prayer, and faith in God’s love for me, my frustration begins to wane, and the hope of glory revisits my heart and leads me to the promised land of God’s goodness. If you are frustrated with life, spouse, friends, or existence then turn your eyes upon Jesus and hope in His grace that can heal all that ails your body, soul, and spirit.  Psalm 43:5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God. Yes, hope in God!