What a crazy couple of years it has been! At times, it has been super hard for me to have hope that things will eventually get better. I’m sure that many of you have had that same thought as well.
Then, I was listening to K-LOVE, a contemporary Christian radio station, in which they were asking their listeners what the meaning of “hope” was to them. Many people called in to give their thoughts describing it but what really struck me was that the DJ gave the actual definition then said that we need to have “a hopeful heart”.
What do you think that she meant by that?
So, I started thinking that “a hopeful heart” could mean that we know that something good will come that balances out the bad that happens, but sometimes we aren’t looking for it. We can’t “see” this hope because we have only been “seeing” the bad stuff that is happening in the world and in our own lives. We need to get back to trusting that our God has a purpose in all that He does. It’s just hard for us to discern that purpose because we have stopped believing or trusting that He wants the best for us. It is only through going through our lowest points that many of us begin to turn to Him. We need to see that God is with us through all of it, not just the bad stuff. (Related post: Traversing the hills and valleys of life with grace).
There are lessons to be learned and they can be very difficult for us to face. To me, it’s like God is giving us constructive criticism but we are being too stubborn and not wanting to hear Him trying to correct us. (Related post: The time for reckoning is now). We only have a finite time on earth in which to figure it out, so be very sure that you aren’t wasting precious minutes! Give all your struggles back to God and help your heart to heal through hope in His loving guidance.
So, what did I learn from this? Having hope actually gives me the courage to face my fears and to know that He gives me the power to overcome them. Do they go away? No, of course not! But I know that I am so much stronger when I know that God is on my side and that I am following the path that He wants me to follow. (Related post: Just going with the flow….)
What can you gain from this? Answer this question instead. Don’t you want to have hope instead of fear? Seems like a pretty simple thing to answer, but I can’t do that for you. You have to make that choice. Remember that God gives us free will, so my advice is to make those choices wisely.
A Joyful Mission 