²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷ And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because^[g] the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:24-27

The first time I visited 1775 Water Place, I felt like I had been there before.

I recall standing in the carpet-covered corridor feeling kind of creeped out. Something strange stirred in my Spirit as Pastor Léonce stood in the archway of the children’s wing entrance and spoke. The sound and sights of my surroundings seemed to flow in slow-motion as I cautiously attempted to comprehend this conundrum.

“Where do I remember this from?” I asked myself.

Once we got to the stairs, it hit me.

“I saw this place in a dream.”

When you first walk into the building, there are two ways to get downstairs – a staircase on your left, and one on your right. The one in my left was in my dream.

I know this because in the car on the way back to 120 Ralph McGill, riding with two of my worship team brothers, I curiously scrolled through the notes app on my phone to find the moment my tired fingers typed out the contents of the dream I thought I had.

Sure enough, on August 11th, 2018, I wrote this:

“Renovation was in a new building. It was a combination of a gym, theatre, and church.”

And now, after arriving for worship team rehearsal on Saturday mornings, I deliberately take the stairs on the left. They’re my favorite. They feel familiar. They remind me of God’s faithfulness. They are proof of His prophetic promises.

But while walking and praying throughout the building on the last Saturday of our fast, the Lord convicted me.

As I anointed the beloved bannister of my favorite staircase and began to thank Him for His faithfulness, He stopped me. I felt His spirit speak:

“Gina, if you stay fixated only on what I have done, You’ll never get to see what I will do.”

In that moment, I believe the Lord illuminated my eyes to see the two staircases in a new light: one as the things He’s done, and one as the things He will do. For just as we remind ourselves of the ways we’ve seen His faithfulness, we must also maintain hope in the new things He is doing – things we have not yet seen. This is where hope is born.

For, as the above scripture reads, who hopes for what he sees?

⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

I begrudgingly walked over to the bannister not of my dreams. Praying over the staircase I always avoid, I wanted to cry.

Father, I don’t know how to pray for what I haven’t yet seen. I think I know what You have in store, but maybe I don’t. You’ve spoken over me before, but now, barely believing in the balance, will it ever come to pass? Will I be able to one day say that the burdens bared by this bannister have become the blessings of the other one?

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷ And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because^[g] the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Holy Spirit, thank you for interceding for us in the places where we struggle to believe, the places where we we must stand & believe in hope and faith of what You will do. Thank you for interceding for us according to the will of God. We let You take over. Speak through us. Pray through us. Give us faith from Heaven that enables us to maintain hope, confidence, and expectancy in your promises. Father, give us eyes to see that both staircases never end – for the staircase of your faithfulness extends beyond the clouds, and the staircase of your promises are all “yes & amen” in Jesus Christ. Let hope overflow in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!