Hope

“Hope is not pretending that troubles don't exist. It is the hope that they won't last forever. That hurts will be healed and difficulties overcome. That we will be led out of the darkness and into the sunshine.”

I love this anonymous quote for several reasons. The main reason
I love it so much is because it's content is so very true. There is something in this quote that reminds me that this world is not my home. No matter what the trouble is it won't last forever because nothing ever does last forever. The only one who lasts forever and who is worthy of all our hope and trust is Jesus. He said he would never leave us or forsake us, and that is something that gives me a tremendous amount of hope. I suppose the funny thing is that when I am going through hard times I seem to forget all those promises and good things. I forget that my Heavenly Father is right there willing and waiting to help me through. Hard times have a way of making you feel like it will last forever, but it never really does.
The other reason I love this quote is because it uses a word that I love so very much;
H O P E.
I have hung out, lingered long, and truly studied the word hope. Most of you know that I am a words person and one of my all time favorite words is hope.  I am also a very hopeful person in nature. The eternal optimist that is what I have self proclaimed myself to be. I suppose that is why I love the word hope.  But through the years I have come to understand this word so very differently.  My own journey views about hope were confirmed recently in an anointed lady who spoke at church a few weeks back. She shared the message of Hope and what that looks like for a child of God.  Our hope is different than the way the world hopes. The world knows hope as a word that has a lot of meaning. Kind of like how Love is used so flippantly in the English language, Hope is used in the same way. We hope for a raise, we hope for a new car, we hope to fall in love, all these things and so many more we put our hopes in.  Hope in God is so very different though.  It doesn't change with circumstance.  It remains through the dark nights of winter. It is the candle in the window that brings us home on a dark night.  Hope in God reminds us that we have nothing to fear. The bible says that perfect LOVE casts out all fear and I believe HOPE comes right behind that perfect LOVE and makes that casting out process stick kind of like glue.  Hope is the glue that keeps up going. And hope doesnt' have time for fear.

In recent talks with friends and family I am realizing something that seems to be a current theme in conversations regarding our country and the world at large, and that is fear. WE are afraid of the future instead of hopeful because we seem to be placing our hope and our trust in something that is temporal.  As big changes are coming for this country we are afraid of the unknown and how it will affect our everyday lives. It makes sense that we would become fearful when we look around. To really see the world all around us and take in what is happening I think  you would have to be a robot to not be afraid or at least keenly aware that very bad things are happening. It's also easy to become fearful when bad things have already happened to you and your own.  But OH beloved reader, we cannot remain in that place of fear because it means we've placed our hopes in something that isn't long for this world. 
There is only ONE eternal HOPE in this life. He is the lover of your soul.  He keeps reminding me to NOT be afraid.  To look to Him for all things and to not give up hoping for a better tomorrow.  Isn't that the gospel?  The good news?   That someone loves you, every part of you, and wants to give you a lasting HOPE. That there is someone we can place ALL our hope in and HE won't disappoint.  He knows exactly what we need and knows exactly when we need it. 
"Fear NOT, for I am with you; Be NOT dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you, Yes I will help you, I will uphold you with  my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
That is balm to my anxious, tired, weary heart.   No matter what you may be going through, I think those words right there bring such comfort.  Who at this present moment in life doesn't need strength, help, and support to be upheld in all of life's ups and downs? He promises to wipe every tear dry, heal my wounds, help me in difficulties and lead me from the darkness and into the light. 
Can I get an Amen?

Hope Part 3

“ But this I recall and therefore I have HOPE and expectation;

It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His tender compassions fail not.
They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.

The Lord is my portion or share says my living being (inner self); therefore I will hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him. The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him, inquire of Him, and require Him by right of necessity and on the authority of God’s word. It is good that one should hope in and wait quietly for the salvation, the safety and ease, of the Lord."
Lamentations 3:21-26

This would be the portion of these past 3 blogs where I would like to take the right to use a little thing called a soap box. If you would be so kind as to let me get up on it for a minute, I promise not to stay there for very long.

In the above scripture the writer says that "It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness" that he has HOPE , expectations, and is not consumed. I too, would like to shout out a HUGE; AMEN,or here, here !, or YES !, or I agree wholeheartedly with that!! There were so many, many things this past year that tried to consume me and yet, I had HOPE. There are so many things these days that come to rob, kill, and destroy the life that God has given us... but IF we hope in Him we won't be consumed.

I would like to say that the above scripture is quickly becoming one of my all time favorites because it talks about not only HOPE, but also the reward for those that HOPE in Christ Jesus, "Safety, Ease, Peace, Salvation" these are all the rewards of hoping in God. He is the only one worth hoping in, because He never fails.

I could easily look back on this past year and think, "How could you have failed me God? Where are you in all of this wreckage that is now my financial situation?" But, I don't see it like that. I choose NOT to see it like that. I SEE that God was there all along. That HE was the one that kept my children from harm these past 2 years when we didn't have health insurance for them. That he kept food on our table, warmth in our cabin, and people around us for support. That he kept Mo and my hearts intertwined, in love, and gave us strength in character when the times got really tough. That HE changed our hearts and minds, and healed our internal emotional wounds, like no Doctor ever could. That HE is still healing, still moving, still alive, and still worth hoping in.

This is the God I serve.

This is why I HOPE in Him.

This is why I wait, expectantly for Him to turn ALL things to GOOD.

After all, isn't He the one that calls a thing "GOOD" - Genesis 1:31

I don't think I could explain better than what this says for the reason of my HOPE. And so that being said, I am getting off my box now. Hope is a powerful God given tool to keep us out of the "depths of despair" . To quote from Anne of Green Gables "to be in the depths of despair means you have turned your back on God". Friends, don't turn your back on God.

You can bank on Him, truly like no other.

HE IS FAITHFUL and so full of HOPE!

Hope Part 2

Hope.

It's something that comes from deep within.

It cannot be moved by circumstance.

It does not easily cave in by popular demand.

It is a word that has been used by politicians, theologians, and poets for thousands of years to evoke a response.

“To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.”

We took a risk this past October. It was painful. It is still sometimes painful.

When a move occurs as far away as ours, and under the circumstances that ours did, you sometimes feel like you have to know why?

We hoped for something better.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick"

When the outcome of your hopes comes crashing down around you, you have to reevaluate, restructure, reinvent, and renew what it is you truly hoped for in the first place.

I can still remember the first time in my life when my hopes were dashed. It was one of the most painful experiences in my life. And I still remember the faith it took to hope again. I am so glad I did begin to hope again.

In my life I have come to know and be known for having a hopeful, optimistic spirit. I do believe it is God given. I do believe it is for a reason. I am not always full of hope. I sometimes doubt if this character trait would be described but others as being incredibly naive.

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”

“Never let go of hope. One day you will see that it all has finally come together. What you have always wished for has finally come to be. You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself... 'How did I get through all of that?”

For me when I look back on the past 2 years and ask the above question; "how did I get through all of that?" I know the answer.

still more to come on this topic....

Hope Part 1

“Never let the sense of failure corrupt your new action.”

The above quote has got to be an all time favorite of mine now, in regards to quotes that give me Hope.

To me it has always been one of the things I consider to be most helpful in my relationship with God. The fact that He never holds things over my head or brings past mistakes back up again. He is always the one who encourages, ever so gently to move forward. Forward motion, what a beautiful thing!

A while back, I would say it has been almost 2 and half years back now I got stuck on the idea that Hope often gets overlooked in the verse that says, “Now these 3 things remain; Faith, Hope, and Love and the greatest of these is Love.” I am not disagreeing with the manual on this one, I just wondered why for so many years I never really paid close attention to that word HOPE?

It got me thinking about the fact that maybe it’s because I never really in all my 30+ years ever had a reason to really “keep hope alive.”
Maybe when you have love and you have faith, hope just kinda gets lost by the waste side?
Maybe when you are not in a place in your life that seems hopeless you don’t even realize that you need this hope that others speak of?
It’s like being on a boat and until it’s sinking and you are desperately trying to find a way to safety, you don’t realize that there are get away boats all around you and a life vest right by your side.

Until the past 2 years came along the word Hope, the action of Hope was not as necessary. But, this past year I have clung to Hope like a newborn baby clings to it’s mother.

(To Be continued)