It’s funny how often God gives me spiritual lessons through my dogs.

Grace is a very mellow little gal. When her sister gets cranky, she usually sits back and looks at her with an expression that says “what is your problem?” Rarely does she react in an irritable manner. Contrast that with Hope. She’s a high-strung girl, who is usually the instigator of crankiness. While Grace is consistent in character, Hope is volatile.

As I was watching an exchange between them, God illuminated the spiritual parallels to me. See, His grace is consistent. God never changes; therefore, His grace to us never changes. He is consistently faithful and His grace to us is consistently there.

Hope, on the other hand, is often inconsistent. The reason? We frequently tie our hopes to the wrong things. We place our hope in ourselves, our abilities, our money or jobs, family, social connections, maybe even the church. The truth is that all of those things will at some point fail us. 

Our hope is only secure when placed in the Lord. Psalm 33:16-22 illustrates this very fact. Kings and warriors cannot save, but the Lord can and, as the Psalmist says, “But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love… (vs 18) and again, “May Your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in You.”

Perhaps my favorite, though, comes from Isaiah 40:30-31: “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

So if you’re feeling hopeless today, check to see where you’re pinning your hopes. Maybe it’s not on the Lord, but on something that is destined to disappoint.