Wishing, hoping or trusting?

Wish: Verb: To want: to desire; long for.

Noun:.A distinct mental inclination toward the doing, obtaining, attaining, something: a desire, felt or expressed.

Hope: Noun; Expectation of something desired: desire accompanied by expectation.

Trust: Noun: Confident expectation of something

Verb: To believe, to expect confidently.

Sometimes we get these three mixed up a bit so I thought I would look up the definitions and share them with you. As we lift our families and friends up in prayer or even our personal requests, I wonder which one of these three words would describe the state of our hearts. I've been thinking about the state of my own heart quite a bit lately. 

Over the past year my prayer life has become richer and deeper, both in my personal time with the Lord and here at the Colony of Mercy. God simply continues to amaze me with His answers to prayer. 

       I have witnessed Him answer prayers on behalf of a young wife and mother with a brain tumor. She was told to get her affairs in order prior to surgery...her prognoses was very, very dire. Not only did this young woman open her eyes after surgery, all her physical and mental capacities were intact!! This was to the amazement of all the doctors. God is so good!

I have even prayed for little things and witnessed answers to these as well. On a recent business trip to London, my husband was to arrive in London at 7am and go straight to work...no check in to a hotel, no shower to freshen up. But God heard even this insignificant request. Surprisingly, John was met by a limo at the airport that promptly took him to his hotel to check in and freshen up. Thank you Lord...for loving us so much!

Now where is my heart when I'm praying? Am I just longing for a good or positive outcome? Is there expectation in my desire for the answers to prayer? Or am I confidently expecting God to answer my prayer in any way He chooses to do so? Oh, how I long to say that in all my prayers I'm trusting God in ALL things....big and small. Over this past year I see less "wishing and hoping" and more TRUSTING. But I'm not at that point completely. I've discovered that the more I trust, the more peace I have. And this is a great place to be.

Isaiah 50:10, "Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the Word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God."

My challenge to you and myself as well, is to just trust in the Lord with all our hearts, minds and souls and leave the outcome to God, trusting Him for His answer. Let's leave the wishes for the birthday cakes.

MaryAnn

MaryAnn and John Kiernan have been married for 35 years, have 2 grown/married sons and are the proud grandparents of two grandsons. She serves at America's KESWICK as a Biblical Counselor and also as Intake Coordinator for the Colony of Mercy. Her life verse is Romans 8:28.

1. Definitions taken from The American College Dictionary, 1966, Random House Publishers.