Even in light of all the present craziness in the world, I wanted to remind you and myself why hope is alive now more than ever and the present state should cause us to be filled with hope or at least a longing for it or something more?
I truly hope you and yours are doing well, and not only that but thriving in this present situation. Also, please know that your pain matters and is not lost!
THE HISTORY OF HOPE
First I would like to address something. I am a believer and belong body and soul to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but not because I am impressed with any church, BUT BECAUSE OF HIM.
He has been with me through every darkness, and never left me. He has saved me and plucked me from the ashes. He has redeemed me. I am His.
When I look back over the course of my life, just me, in the history of what has been my life thus far, His presence is undeniable, His protection mind-blowing, and Him as my person and lover of my soul the most tangible thing ever!
He is the author of my story. He is the one that is taking all my many broken and distraught pieces and turning them into a beautiful work of art that He will use how He sees fit for His Kingdom.
He is the one that sees the real me, unfiltered, unadulterated, and somehow chooses to say to me with the most loving calming voice ever, “You are mine. I choose you. I rejoice over you.”
Zephaniah 3:17 paints an unimaginable picture…
“The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
HE WILL TAKE GREAT DELIGHT IN YOU;
IN HIS LOVE He will no longer rebuke you,
but will REJOICE OVER YOU WITH SINGING.”
Yall, that is almost too much to bear, but makes everything else in this world and life bearable.
He is the reason I keep going. He is my light in the tunnel of life. He is my shield in the fight. He is my protector through danger. He is my joy of redemption. He is my hope of eternal life.
You see, when we take ourselves out of the equation, except to look at what a wondrous work He has done and continues to do, it all becomes about Him, and that is exactly how it should be!
We often forget that Jesus wasn’t a Presbyterian, or a Baptist, or a Methodist. He was sold out completely for the lost, the lonely, the suffering, and was and still is in the business of Redeeming!
John 13:35 reminds us of how we are to demonstrate TRUE CHRISTIAN LOVE,
“By this, all people will know that you are my disciples, IF YOU HAVE LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER.”
WHEN DESPERATION KICKS IN
Now, with most of our “usual routine” being stripped away from us, and the passage of time, some are losing hope and longing for more.
That excites me as God’s child because THAT IS WHERE HE MEETS US, MY FRIEND!
When we are desperate for more…longing to learn…aching for a change…broken and nowhere else to go….He will deliver!!
Deuteronomy 31:6 reminds us,
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for IT IS THE LORD YOUR GOD WHO GOES WITH YOU. HE WILL NOT LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU.”
If we think of what Hope actually means, then we should be filled with Hope now more than ever!
Hope is a longing for more…the believing that it is all for something…the trust that the patient waiting for what we believe in is worth it all! It’s the desperate aching from the depths of our soul that screams, “There has to be more.” Maybe when we have too much and think we know too much we can’t possibly be filled with Hope.
But, now is the time!
When there is nothing left to do but cry out to God and even if we have never before, we can do it now! “God help me…I don’t know what to do anymore!” I have cried this prayer many times and God answered me….not in the form of “fixing things” how I would imagine, but in the form of comfort and peace.
So, fall on Him, my friend. Cry out to Him. Know that YOU ARE NOT ALONE and never have been. Once you realize that and the scales fall off your eyes and you are able to see clearly His great love for you, nothing in your life will ever be the same!
There will be an inexplicable deep abiding joy that cannot be shaken. There will be a peace amidst chaos that you just can’t describe. Most of all, there will be a pulsating hope that is almost palpable to those around you BECAUSE OF JESUS!
Now is NOT THE TIME to give up. My old running partner used to tell me something that struck me so profound I even wrote an article about it. She used to tell me when I was hurting and in pain, “Never decide anything in the first 2 miles”.
Be encouraged, my friend! We are told there is nothing new under the Sun to Jesus.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 tells us of such,
“What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.”
Time will come and go. Struggles will ebb and flow. But Joy comes in the morning!
Psalm 30:5b reminds us of that,
“Weeping may tarry for the night,
BUT JOY COMES with the morning.”
WHY SUFFERING AND HOPE GO HAND IN HAND
TO THAT END, since this is quite possibly the closest to experiencing a tiny iota of what Jesus went through in His time here on earth, with isolation, loneliness, darkness, and what seems like an endless amount of suffering, let us cling to Jesus!
Do not give in to fear my friend, but choose this day to rejoice that we are participating in the sufferings of Christ. THAT GIVES US HOPE!
1 Peter 4:13 gives us that instruction,
“But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed.”
This verse is such a picture of something we learn when we are young and hopefully sticks with us as we get older. We have to do the hard stuff in order to gain the reward, right? And then in sports, the mantra, no pain no gain. Nothing worthwhile, no matter who tells you otherwise, is ever easy. I like to think of 1 Peter 4:13 like this but on a much larger, more unimaginable scale.
Why would we get to participate in His glory if we aren’t willing to come alongside the one who gave it all up and endured total hell on our part, so we wouldn’t have to? Getting to participate in the sufferings of Christ is to be considered an honor and the way towards glory!
And we aren’t to be surprised at this either….this is what is to be expected.
Look at the previous verse,
1 Peter 4:12,
“Dear friends, DO NOT BE SURPRISED at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”
Hmmmmm….now when we put it all together it all makes sense,
Why should we not be surprised? Because that is the testing of our faith to see if we are willing to endure in order to share in His glory.
1 Peter 4:12-13
“Dear friends, DO NOT BE SURPRISED AT THE FIERY ORDEAL that has come on you to test you, AS THOUGH SOMETHING STRANGE WERE HAPPENING TO YOU. BUT REJOICE inasmuch AS YOU PARTICIPATE IN THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST, SO THAT YOU MAY BE OVERJOYED WHEN HIS GLORY IS REVEALED.”
Why would Jesus test our faith? Well, truly it’s because a faith that hasn’t been tested is one that really shouldn’t be trusted. He is building character through the trials and longsuffering. character produces Hope and Hope doesn’t disappoint!
And here is the proof in the pudding my friend!
Romans 5:3-5,
“Not only so, but we also GLORY IN OUR SUFFERINGS, because we know that SUFFERING PRODUCES PERSEVERANCE; PERSEVERANCE, CHARACTER; AND CHARACTER, HOPE. AND HOPE DOES NOT PUT US TO SHAME, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
So there you have it for what it’s worth. Just one girls take on why now more than ever, and during times of trials and suffering in your life Hope is, or should be, alive more than ever!
Comment below with times in your life when Hope seemed to spring forth out of the darkness!
As a tangible way to encourage you towards Hope, I created this massive set of FREE INSPIRATIONAL PRINTABLES to remind you that Hope never disappoints. It’s a little happy from our family to yours! Grab them here!
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