Our Hope: A Legacy of Faithfulness

When I was a little girl, a tiny plaque sat on the headboard of my parents’ giant waterbed. It read:

“A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on.” ~ anonymous

From my youngest years, I found great hope and comfort in that saying. No, it’s not a quote from the Bible, but it made sense to me. As the oldest of four sisters, with each new baby, I took hope that God was still in control and hadn’t abandoned the universe to its destructive wiles.

A stitching hung by the door in the laundry room where my mother spent tireless hours cleaning and folding clothes—caring for her family. It read:

“Cleaning and scrubbing can wait for tomorrow,
For babies grow up, we’ve learned to our sorrow.
So, quiet down cobwebs. Dust, go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.” ~ anonymous

Once again, there’s nothing sacred about that rhyme, nothing that makes it absolutely true. But in the heart of a little girl, it birthed hope. I must have read it hundreds of times (hence I can quote it by memory almost 30 years later!). Each time, my heart quieted to the assurance that my mother considered me precious, valuable and worthy of her love. She saw my sisters and me as gifts from God.

Finally, I remember a little picture of a floundering sailboat, hung in our bathroom. It read:

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8)

This still gives me pause; it makes me think about my own prayers to God when I ask for wisdom in various situations. Do I really believe He will give it? What does it mean to ask in faith?

That last one, I’m still pondering, but it still offers me assurance and hope. There are so many things that we need wisdom for—things that are happening in our own lives, in our families, across our country and globally. We need wisdom in order to stand for what is right. We need wisdom to share our faith; wisdom to discern the times.

And we can be sure He will give it. Because, just as I can look back at the walls in my parents’ home and prove the legacy they leave to me, as Christians, we too have a great legacy left to us by a great cloud of witness who found Him faithful.

Hebrews makes this clear. In chapter one, the author tells us there is a great cloud of witness surrounding us—faithful footprints to follow in. Then, the rest of the book details many of those lives. And finally, near the end, the author spells out Our Hope:

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful … “ (Hebrews 10:23).

How have you found God faithful? Whose legacy can you look to and draw strength from their testimony? Please share your story with us at www.mystoryofgrace.com.