Hoping in the Lord

I have spent a lot of time the last several months thinking about what it means to hope in the Lord and how I actually do that. I have had some of my "hopes" crushed the last year. I know many of my dear friends have experienced the same thing. I have waited on the Lord to answer, guide and direct and yet seen nothing. Again, many of my dear friends are experiencing the same struggle. What does it mean to hope in the Lord? Do I just completely give up my hopes and dreams? It sounds super spiritual to say I only want the Lord's will and don't have hopes of my own but that is not actually realistic. I do want the Lord's will and I have many dreams of my own also.  I am too weak to just make my hopes go away.  I have surrendered to the Lordship of Christ and His leading in my life but find after many years of walking with Him it is still a struggle.  I know that all I could ever hope for can only be fulfilled in Christ Jesus. However, the predicament remains...What am I to do will all my hopes and dreams?

I know nothing but to surrender all my hopes and give them to my Lord.  I envision bringing them to Him as something I treasure in a beautifully wrapped gift.  I give them to my Lord as a meager, poor sacrifice. I don't know what He will do with it. Maybe one day He will give it back to me exactly as I hoped. Perhaps instead He will polish it up a bit or make some minor adjustments and give it back to me exactly as I hoped but even better. Even still, He may take my small hope and stow it away where He cherishes all our meager offerings and instead He may give me something far greater and more wonderful than I could have ever imagined. But I must first bring it and lay it before His feet...

He is trustworthy with everything I have, my life, my future, and all my heart's desire. His care for me and my simple hopes is beyond my comprehension. He wants my whole heart and my only hope to be in Him.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen