Finding Hope

There's lots of white space below this line...I've not been home for several weeks, and my normal routine is a little "off," which tends to throw everything out of whack (you know what I mean)...so, a lot of white space seems intimidating at the moment.

I don't feel obligated to fill it, not by any means...

BUT...

I have a whole lot of thoughts about "hope" written down in my journal,

AND...

only one little thought of great magnitude on my mind (at least it's been of great magnitude to me over the last couple of days).

The essence of HOPE is found in experiencing the ordinary, often taken-for-granted, rhythms of life.

That's it (period).

Because the sun rises each morning, I know that my HOPE is not in vain.

Because that same sun sets (and, so often ends my day in brilliant reds, purples, oranges, yellows), I know my HOPE is secure.

Because seasons are predictable, I know new seasons will follow current ones.

Because the grass withers and the flowers fade during winter, doesn't mean that they won't spring to life again come warmer weather.

The stars are always in the sky.

The sun will never entirely disappear.

Each night the moon will rule the heavens (and I guess yesterday it was a super blue blood moon - but I missed it)...

The oceans will always ebb and flow.

The earth will always spin on its axis.

Planets will always revolve around the sun.

Because God ordained these things when He spoke them into existence, the promise of eternity is settled in the hearts of those who are His followers.

"I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart... I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and hopeful, and to do good while they live."

Ecclesiastes 3:10-12

Yet, one of the most critical components in fulfilling "happy and hopeful" in our hearts, even in the midst of hardship, is that miraculous new life is evidenced daily (of course, it is also "appointed for man once to die," and we experience the joy and heartache of both).  The writers of Lion King, so aptly described it as..."the circle of life."

Yet, it's in the consistency of this circle that hope is uncovered and found in overflowing measure.

Because there is no question about its certainty, I am convinced even more in the absoluteness of the promises of God.

Two days ago, when my newest grand-treasure slipped rather quickly into the world, the immensity of the miracle, once again, took my breath away. Her first cries griped my heart, and I knew I was smitten. She is perfect in every way in the eyes of this family.

In the rush of the moment, in the overwhelming blast of emotions that followed, it did not get past me that not just new life had been born, but the Lord, also, gave birth to a NEW MEASURE OF HOPE.

Yet, how many times, have we experienced the ordinariness of the regular rhythms of our world in which the Lord has seen fit to reveal Himself, in order to renew our hope, and merely blinked?

In the awe and wonder of those little moments, stop and allow the Lord to do what He longs to do in your soul...............fill it with HOPE!

Hope in the future is built entirely on the ordinary, day-in and day-out, consistent cadence of God's distinctive hand at work.

Let's look for it...