in christ alone

god in my living, there in my breathing
god in my waking, god in my sleeping
god in my resting, there in my working
god in my thinking, god in my speaking

be my everything; be my everything
be my everything; be my everything

god in my hoping, there in my dreaming
god in my watching, god in my waiting
god in my laughing, there in my weeping
god in my hurting, god in my healing

be my everything; be my everything
be my everything; be my everything

christ in me, christ in me
christ in me, the hope of glory
you are everything
-"everything" by tim hughes

i heard this song on the playlist of a blog i was reading earlier this evening. i had never heard it but quickly found myself plundering through google to find it. when i read the line "god in my hoping," i was immediately reminded of romans 5 that i studied earlier this evening.

i was writing in my journal, reflecting on what i was reading. i meant to write, "where does my hope lie?" but i actually wrote, "where does my heart lie?" the holy spirit totally overwhelmed me, and i know he was saying, "you got it right, ashley. where does your heart lie? examine that, and see where your hope is placed." after careful consideration for several minutes, i realized that while my heart ultimately belongs to christ, and with everyhing in me i desire him above all else, i have mistakenly placed pieces of my heart - and thus, my hope - in other things. in desires, in people, in ideas, in conventionality, in stability. god's promise in romans 5:5 is that "hope does not disappoint." that is a promise, friends.

that leads me to this question: how often do i truely experience hope as god intends me to? so many times i place my hope in a thing or a person or an idea, and so many times i am disappointed. the only real and lasting hope there is is christ. period. unfortunately, i think we only pull out "hope" when things are hard or when we don't understand what's going on in our lives. i don't think we're called to use hope at our convenience, to just pull it out when we need it. we're called to live hopeful lives - hopeful for the glory of god - hopeful for nothing less than god himself. and that hope is a promise - it's a reality - it's a sure thing. hoping for his best, for his will to be accomplished, to know him more, to love him better - those are things to hope for, because they are in christ. those are things that will never disappoint.

in christ alone
my hope is found
he is my light, my strength, my song
this cornerstone, this solid ground
firm through the fiercest drought or storm
what heights of love
what depths of peace
when fears are stilled
and strivings cease
my comforter
my all-in-all
here in the love of christ i stand