Hope

Hope has been a common thread going through this last week. I was at a prayer meeting and one of the members asked for prayer to have hope. In talking with another friend, she told me the most important thing for people to have was hope. I've been thinking a lot about having hope too. I do have hope, and I 'hope' I never lose it. So what makes us lose hope?

Often it is our circumstances. Perhaps through decisions we make the results aren't what we had 'hoped' for. Things look bleak, dismal, like they;ll never change. We begin losing the ability to see our goals we once had, the positive side of things, the light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe that light looks more like a train headed straight for us, than the light of God that never burns out. We lose hope.

How do we get it back? By focusing on God. When everything we see, say, and do is within the perspective of God and what he is doing in our lives and what he promises us in His Word, we can't have anything but hope. He is so faithful and never changing, and he makes good on every promise. We can have peace in knowing that what we are going through now is just another season of our lives, and no matter what is going on, God can and will make it all turn out for good.

Another friend felt people were against her and didn't have good intentions towards her. God brought up a verse to my mind immediately and I prayed it for her. If God is for us, who can be against us? What can mere man do to us? (paraphrased) God is bigger than our circumstances and bigger than the enemy who tries to thwart God's plans for us. Have hope. Keep looking at God. Be amazed at what He is accomplishing. Never give up. Blessings on this very hot Monday!

Faith, Hope, and Patience

Have you ever been in a position of waiting for something and there was nothing you could do about it? Feeling trapped, like being under a glass ceiling, you wait, knowing your future is in someone else's hands?

You may feel this in you job, you can't move ahead until those above you are sufficiently impressed. Maybe you feel this in ministry, you have a great idea, but are waiting on approval. Maybe you're waiting for approval on a loan, a federal tax rebate, or some other financial improvement to help you move to the next level or buy that thing that you desperately need. Maybe you're waiting for God to answer a prayer, maybe to heal you or someone you care about, but you're not seeing any improvement. And so you wait . . . patiently?

I was thinking this morning about waiting and what constitutes patience. Is it an attitude deep within our heart? Is it having a sense of peace about a situation? I've found that when I've had the most patience waiting, I've also got a good dose of faith and hope. Faith that God will provide in His perfect timing. He cares for me and wants his best for me. If what I'm waiting for is within His will, then it will all work out. Hope is that thing I look to in the future, that thing my eyes are fixed on, that thing I'm waiting for. I imagine what it will be like when the waiting is over. Flood gates will open up, tension will leave my body, and the river of my life will flow freely again. If I don't have that horizon to look at, I get frustrated instead of patient.

My prayer for you is that faith, hope, and patience become your mode of operation when you have to wait for someone else to act. Blessings today and always.