HOPE

So, okay, after gentle nudges from friends, I'm back with my first blog of the new year. Things got hectic right before Christmas and I didn't feel I had time to spend on the computer. Then there was the ongoing string of bad news...the deaths of two friends, a diagnosis of cancer in another friend, the brain injury of our pastor's daughter, my brother-in-law's lost job due to the closing of the Rubbermaid plant in Madison, two dear ladies in different hospitals right now undergoing tests to determine the cause of mysterious maladies, a young friend, and mom, facing the prospect of heart surgery for her six year old son...the list goes on.

I hurt for my mother as she travels the road of her mother's decline into senile dementia...will that be her and I someday?

I held onto hope and prayed fervently for the trapped WV coal miners and their families. My heart broke with the news of their loss. Unimaginable.

When it starts piling up this deep I tend to withdraw. And, as they say, "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all". Hence, the real reason for my absence from the blogging world.

I am so thankful that, as I withdraw from the pain of the world, I walk through each day in the presence and comfort of the Lord God. I just finished reading the Book of Lamentations which poignantly shares the overwhelming sense of loss that accompanied the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and exile of her people around 586 B.C. The Lord ministered to my soul as I read verses 19 through 26 of the third chapter:

"I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great isYour faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.' The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."

I don't know how people get through this stuff without Him to run to, lean on, and cry out to. By His strength I am able to get up in the morning, take care of my family and home, and teach my children. Because His grace is sufficient for me, I am able to pray for, reach out to, and minister to those around me who are hurting or struggling.

As we bid goodbye and, in some cases, good riddance to a year seemingly filled with bad news, we look forward to, and wish one another, the best for the new year. Sometimes that is the case, but often it turns out to be more of the same...because we live in a fallen world we have troubles and sorrows. In John 16:33, Jesus matter-of-factly tells us to expect this, but gives us comfort and promise in His words:

"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

So... as I take a deep breath and take the next step, I also take heart and encourage you to do so as well.

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Hope...hope for better times, hope for the future, hope for eternity:

"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:3-4

Praise to God for a Living Hope:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade -- kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith -- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Peter 1:3-7

"He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen." Revelation 22:20-21