Dare To Hope

Then Jesus put his hands over their eyes and said, ‘You will have what your faith expects!’”

- Matthew 9:29 TPT

This verse stopped me in my tracks today. If we all got what we were expecting to get today, what would you receive? This makes me want to worry less and hope more.

This verse from Matthew was from a passage where a couple of blind men hear Jesus is close by and follow him down the road, yelling out to him, “Have mercy and heal us!” They stayed on his heels and followed him right into the house where Jesus was staying (their persistence honestly inspires me). Jesus asks them, “Do you believe I have the power to restore your sight?” To which they exclaimed, “Yes Lord, we do!!” And so Jesus responds to them with the powerful words in the verse above…. “You will have what your faith expects.” And their faith was proven right as the impossible happened, and they were able to see the world around them for the very first time in their lives! With their faith, these two blind men played a part in their own healing. The same is true for us. We get what our faith expects.

This encourages me to get my focus off of my own limitations and onto God’s power. Before modern medicine, believing your sight could be restored was RADICAL, just completely unheard of. To everyone around them, these men looked strange but they didn’t care. They heard about Jesus and what he’d done for others, and they knew he could do the same for them as well. Around this time during the first century (and for several centuries to come) it was commonly believed that if you were born with a disability, you or your parents must have sinned to receive such a “punishment.” This story shows us that blame is often placed where it doesn’t belong, and faith unlocks all sorts of prisons.

“Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen.”

-Hebrews 11:1-2 TPT

God has the power to meet you where you are, and to help you according to your faith in him. Even if you can’t think of anything specific that you need right now in this moment, believe God will do good things in your life in general. He can and will heal wounds you may not even know you have.

When I was 18, living in a basement apartment, emotionally shattered by years and years of abuse with virtually no family or support, and no concrete plans for the future - I dared to believe God loved me, that he wanted to change my life. There were too many things that were broken inside of me and around me to specifically list for him, but I trusted that he saw it all. He proved my faith right and radically changed my life. By the end of that year I was pursuing an unexpected call into ministry, rebuilding dysfunctional dynamics with some family members (a few of whom have given their hearts to the Lord as well and since found healing), and discovering a confidence I never knew I could have. Since then, I have published 5 books, travelled the country to speak at conferences and encourage women (which is crazy to me because I was born with a significant stutter), hosted a few of my own events, bought my first condo, and married the love of my life.

“For we live by faith, not by what we see with our eyes.”

-2 Corinthians 5:8 TPT

Faith simply means confidently hoping in something or Someone greater than yourself. People place their faith in all sorts of things - popularity, wealth, politicians, ect. Everything and everyone besides God will fail us because they are imperfect, and never truly possess the power they claim to have. But, as we can see, Jesus has an incredible track record. He is perfect. He is even more powerful than you think. He won’t fail you like other people and entities have.

Dare to hope for good things, lovely one.

Where we see limitations, God sees an opportunity to showcase his power and incredible love for us.

Cry out to Jesus, set your heart on being close to him above all else, and just see where that takes you!

Jesus is mighty to save, friend, he truly is. He will use your faith to do the impossible!

Love you,

-Kelly