Are you feeling heavy with burdens that seem too hard to bear? Do you sometimes wish you could crawl into a hole and disappear? In this troubled world we live in, have we tried finding hope in God?
FINDING HOPE IN GOD
As I reading a post from my former blog, it reminded me that God is our hope no matter what we are going through. This post is an updated version of that earlier writing. May you find encouragement as I did.
Psalm 33:20-22
Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
With so much evil, sickness and pain rampant in our society we feel helpless and wonder if there is anything we can do. My heart is heavy with its own burdens, and I suspect most of us carry burdens unknown to others. May God have mercy on us and comfort us.
Hope Even Through Lament
There are no easy answers to all the problems. At least I don’t know of them. What I do know is that there is a God whose ways are higher than our ways. We cannot completely understand why He allows some things and not others.
God is good and it grieves Him when evil raises its ugly head. As I thought about all this and prayed, I penned this poem of lament.
God is working in our hearts and in the world today even though we don’t always see. He is in the process of redeeming not only us, but the whole world and everything in it. One day we will all bow before God and worship Him.
Until then there will be evil, pain, sickness, and many other things we cannot explain. He did not promise an easy time of it, but He did promise to be with us and bring peace to our hearts. He has given His Holy Spirit to be with us through the good and bad times.
John 14:26,27
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Hope Grows with Love
Because of Jesus we can have hope even when there is evil all around. We may feel small and helpless, unable to help ourselves, much less someone else. But even in the midst of pain and struggles, we can encourage someone else as we trust in Him. Hope grows as we show love, sharing what we have with others.
I have some special friends, who I only know online, but they are very dear to me. We encourage each other almost every day as we pray, share art, words, scriptures and songs together.
We always point each other back to God, reminding us of the hope we have in Him. As we are drawn closer to each other and in unity with God, our faith grows. We see there is much to be thankful for even in our hard circumstances.
Colossians 3:12-15 (CSB)
Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful.
We were not meant to face our trials alone. God made us for community, and we need each other.
Is there someone you could encourage today with a simple word or act of kindness? Or do you need to reach out to someone to ask for help? Can you join others in finding hope in God?
I would love to say a prayer for us all today:
Dear Father,
I come to you with a heart that is full of gratitude to You for your love and mercy. Many of us are facing trials that seem too hard to bear, but You know all about them. Each one is important to You.
Please encourage our hearts through Your word and through friends who come alongside us. Give us the courage to lay our burdens at Your feet, to put our trust wholly in You and to wait with patience and hope for your answers.
When You seem far away, help us to remember that we are never out of Your sight. You hold us in Your hands and nothing can take us away. Your faithful love is always with us.
In the name of Jesus I pray,
Amen
May God give us hearts of gratitude as we put our trust in Him. Our pain may continue, our struggles will vary, but God is with us through them all.
Romans 15:13 (CSB)
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
I’m linking up with: #TeaAndWord, #GraceFullTuesday, #HeartEncouragement
Oh Gayl, you are such a gift. And in all you are carrying to God daily in prayer, to then still stop to encourage us all with the comfort God has given you…may God just overwhelm you and your family with His loving care today and show Himself faithful yet again in all the needs you see. Bless you.
I also wanted to thank you for adding this Scripture: John 14:26,27. It so moved my heart. It brings me so much comfort. I know these verses well and yet they spoke to me in a deeper way just now. God’s Word is so precious. Much love from afar. xxx
Dear sweet Anna, thank you so much for that blessing/prayer. I needed to read my post as much as anyone else. With all that’s going on and all my interruptions trying to write it, I was frustrated. But God met me there through you and Bettie and my husband. There was a reason for all the interruptions and the delay of posting it. God knew I needed to reword an area, and you were such a blessing to me, showing me why God had delayed my publishing. Yes, God is my comfort. With all the burdens I still have a peace that He knows what He is doing and He knows best. I am protected under His wings.
That scripture in John is always so helpful to remember. I’m so glad it brought you comfort. God knows what we need when we need it and He has a way of leading us where we need to go. His Spirit within us is such a comfort, especially knowing that He loves us and that nothing can separate us from Him. Much love and blessings to you, too, dear Anna! {{Hugs}} from afar!
Dear Gayl,
Thank you for listening to the Lord’s promptings to re-share this post today. What an encouragement to keep trusting and holding onto the Lord’s hope. I love that you used the photo with the tiny sliver of the moon showing. It feels like hope and faith sometimes–all we can see is that tiny little glimmer. But Jesus is holding His hope out to us right there, that His light and love will shine through! You are in my prayers my dear sister/artist/poet/friend. Love you! xoxo
Dear Bettie, I’m so glad this was encouraging to you. I love the analogy you drew from the tiny sliver of moon in the photo. And yes, Jesus is our hope and light and His love will shine through. Thank you so much for your prayers, my dear sister! xoxo Blessings to you!
My dear friend,
As usual your writings always encourages the readers…Remembering :-
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).”
No matter on situations..How blessed we are to receive His love and care??? He is pouring enormously to us without any fail.I also used to think about certain situations, that how hard its for me and all…but nothing is harder or impossible for our dear Lord.He fearfully and wonderfully made us to overcome all the circumstances with the help of His Spirit.
With Love !!!
Thank you, dear Athira. Yes, we are so blessed that He loves us and cares so much for us. Sometimes certain situations do seem really hard, but we need to remember like you said that nothing is too hard for Him. He has promised to be with us in everything. Blessings, love and hugs to you, dear friend! xo
Our communities give us the hope we need as they point us to Jesus – so true, Gayle!
Yes, we really weren’t made to do life alone, were we? We need each other so much. Blessings to you!
Thank you for this beautiful post, Gayl. So hope-filled and encouraging. Your poem of lament especially moves me to tears and touches a deep place within me. That lament coexisting with hope. I had to return to it a couple of times as it voices the longings of my heart. Love and blessings to you!
Dear Trudy, Thank you so much for your encouragement. I wrote that lament a few years ago, but I come back to it, too. And there is always hope when we trust in God, right? Love and blessings to you, dear Trudy! xo