Hope in His Plan

We have the world at our fingertips, everything we could possibly want or need can be ours with the click of a button. We live an often fast-paced life filled with moments and days where we are fairly sure what will happen. We use the word hope to fit our lifestyle, often carelessly or in a situation where we are unsure of the outcome. “I hope I get a promotion.” “I hope I receive a good gift for my birthday.” “I hope the weather is good this weekend for our cookout.” We use the word hope in a nonchalant way, in terms that mean we are not sure if what we are hoping will come true.

This is not how our Lord intended the word hope to be thought of. We are told in Romans 15:13, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” (KJV). Nothing God does for us is uncertain. Hoping in His power and His plan are not a gamble. No, hope doesn’t mean uncertainty. Hope is a sure bet with God. It is a plan, one thought out with care by the Almighty. It’s not a wish, it’s a feeling of trust we place in the One who holds the stars, yet has time to hold our hearts, too.

In 2015, we brought our second foster child and fifth child home from the NICU. I’ve told this story a lot in recent months, because it’s important. Not for what my husband and I decided, but because of the hope we had in God to get us through a scary and unsure time.

Would you ever walk to the edge of the Grand Canyon and, with no net or parachute, step into the great abyss? I really hope (see what I did there) you wouldn’t. But, that is exactly how I felt. In order to bring our son home, we had to move in a new house. But there was never a guarantee he would for sure be out foster child. When DCS called and asked me to come to the hospital, we had blindly made plans to move into our new home in case he became available for us to foster. We had hope that God would work out the details. And He did. The day I went to the hospital was the first time we knew for sure he would be living with us. We had moved out of our old house a week before and were camping in my parent’s driveway until our new house was ready to move in. We ended up camping for five weeks, with a newborn who was detoxing. To say the least, it was interesting.

Once we moved into our new home and got settled, I logged in to report to my medical transcription job and found out that the move the doctors had been planning for months had happened. I was unemployed. So, we had a new home with double the mortgage, and extra child, and half the income we were used to. We had to hope that God would work out the details. And He did.

It’s now 2018. I still don’t work as a medical transcriptionist. Instead, I’ve seen my first book published and my second is on its way. We have never missed a payment on any of our bills, and I’m still not really sure how God works it out each month. But He does. We have adopted both our foster children and closed our doors as foster parents. Our hope in God has gotten us through some roller coaster years. I’m looking forward to my next calling from Him – missionary to the Philippines in May. And I trust that God will work out the details because my hope in His plan is greater than my fear.

Sara writes Inspirational Romantic Suspense from a mini-farm in East Tennessee, where she lives with her husband and their five homeschooled children. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee and is a member of ACFW and Tennessee Mountain Writers. Callum’s Compass won second place in Deep River Books’ 2017 Writer’s Contest. Sara also has a story, “Leap of Faith,” in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Step Outside Your Comfort Zone. Gain access to a FREE digital scrapbook detailing some real-life places from Callum’s Compass by signing up for her newsletter: http://www.saralfoust.com.