Hope

There is always hope. 

I can’t help but rejoice in God’s love for me.  In His infinite wisdom and grace, my Father truly carried me through the most difficult season of my life and has walked me to the other side of loss.  Becoming a widow was crushing on countless levels.  But, the life-giving reality of God’s presence inched its way into my fragmented heart, and miraculously, God’s nearness proved just as earth shattering as the pain I felt.  There is always hope.  I know this now.

We hope for better.  Better days.  A better year.  Better financial situations.  Better relationships.  Better test results.  We plan for better vacations, better employment, a better batch of cookies next time around.  Yet, the act of hoping isn’t something pretty to merely think about or admire like a polished trophy.  To hope is action when hope seems lost.  Hoping can be messy, floundering, emotional.  Often, hoping is clawing through the mire, blindly searching for solid ground.  Hoping is a dim light within the black abyss of dismal circumstances.  Hoping is breathing beyond unending sobs.  Hoping is treacherous work at times, and concurrently, hoping becomes grace to live again.  Hope’s view is heaven’s view.  There, everything is infinitely better.

To what else or whom else do we surrender our hope but the Lord?  I’ve cried and prayed with a woman whose husband had not left the home, yet abandoned his marriage.  I’ve apologized on behalf of the Christian community to a pastor’s wife experiencing hurtful actions towards her from those she trusted, those she ministered to.  I’ve counseled and resourced a wife and mother who sought shelter from an abusive husband.  Sitting on the floor, I held a broken, young girl in my arms and sobbed with her because her mom suddenly left the family.  I’ve felt the crushing weight of a terminal diagnosis.  I’m broken today for the tremendous heartache over an overwhelming diagnosis my daughter and son-in-law face with their first, unborn baby.  Only heaven’s view can fully address these tragedies, and that is the exact place where hope’s spark ignites.  This life is filled with a myriad of unknowns of which only God can provide.  We can rest assured; He does make things better in His time.  How?  He lends to us hope in His presence now and for all eternity.  He brought to us, Hope, in person.  Hope is Jesus.

Dwelling in and recognizing God’s presence secures my heart to the hope of heaven and all of its splendor.  I’ve often counseled others, “Heaven is everything!” A simple statement but an exceptional perspective.  This outlook, when matched with the struggles of this life, brings heaven’s reality in clearer view.  The heart rests, hopes, when the beauty of our divine future is forefront in our minds.  Peace seems tangible.  Our Hope, our Peace, who is Jesus, becomes our heart's greatest treasure.  To glorify the Father becomes a reason to live beyond the present struggle.  Fear, doubt, discouragement, and despair are exchanged for expectancy, confidence, and yearning for Truth.  One day our faith will be “swallowed up in vision” (Matthew Henry), our hope will be accomplished, and God’s outshining love will be perfected.  God gave us His best in Jesus, our Hope.  Hope is more than better; it is the best God has for His beloved.  

Still, I may hurt terribly.  The struggle to hope in this present life is profoundly real.  What I see before me, live with daily, am challenged with moment to moment, screams for my allegiance.  Yet, loving Jesus while facing eternity is incredibly more real; heaven’s just, temporarily, not my sight.  Where is God in my daily life?  He is present and whole-heartedly participating in my life's details, every moment.  He is as close to me as my very breath!

There is always Jesus, my Hope, because heaven is everything!