Expectations
Does your hope and joy come from something you are hoping and expecting God to deliver on, while here on this earth, or is your hope and joy based on what He has already given to you and promised every child of God? God has blessed us all with our existence and He has also provided a way for us to have eternal life with Him! When we focus on what He has already done for us and we focus on helping others through their difficult times, that is what brings us comfort, security, fulfillment and joy...even in the most difficult of times.
For example, I can place my hope and faith all day long in God answering my prayers for a baby because maybe I feel He promised that to me through a vision, a dream or a promise He gave Sara in the Old Testament. However, if it's not His Will, then no amount of faith in that dream coming true can change Gods mind. Therefore, my hope and my faith must be in God and in His amazing plans for my life, based on His purposes not on my own personal desires. He knows me better than I know myself and He knows what's best for me and for those whose life my life will effect.
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."
Jeremiah 17:7-9 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked..."
Hebrews 6:19 "...we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary."
Our hope is in this "...we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Romans 8:28