Hope in the Lord!

Isaiah 40:31 (New International Version)

31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Those who hope in the Lord! That's us, you and me and anyone else who will believes that He is the Son of God, sent to save us from eternal damnation. What a tremendous promise for strength when we are overwhelmed by this life. A promise that tells us that when we look to Him, we will not be sitting by the side of the road, but running with renewed vigor or soaring like an eagle. Which ever, we have hope to go on. Life is very hard and no one is immune from the problems. They all come our way, but how we respond will determine what happens. It doesn't do any good to ask "why", rarely do we get an answer for that. What we need to ask is "what" and "how"! Lord, "what" are you trying to show me in this situation will help me to mature and be strong in You, and "how" will you use this to help my brothers and sisters. If you really believe that all things work together to them that love the Lord, and are called according to His purpose, then you must believe that He will keep us from being weary, He will give us hope, He will sustain us. I don't know what you are going through, I just want to encourage you to look to the only One who is capable of delivering us and giving us the victory. My prayer as you read this is that you will be obedient to cast all your cares on Him, that you will have peace in your heart and a new determination to live for Him!

Renewed Hope!

Psalm 94:18-19 (New Living Translation)

¹⁸ I cried out, “I am slipping!”
but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me.
¹⁹ When doubts filled my mind,
your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.

How many times have we had news that just crushed our spirits? Times when our hearts are just overwhelmed? The answer would probably be “to many times to count”. The older we get, seems like we see more and more broken people. They are hopeless, having to much on their plate, “to say grace over”, as my sweet aunt used to say. I was reading prayer requests from one of the blogs that I follow, going down the list praying and finally I just stopped! I had such a heaviness in my heart as I cried out to God, “how can you help these people, they are desperate, what about the children?” I went outside to my favorite place to listen to the waterfall, the birds were singing, the sky was beautiful and blue, and I just sat there. There has to be peace in our hearts even if there is not answers to our questions! After praying, I started searching scriptures and the one above ministered to me. I was “slipping” because I was looking at things in the natural, I knew there was no answers there. No peace, no comfort, nothing, only doubt. The Holy Spirit was reminding me that if I believed all those things I write about, then what is the problem here. Trusting Him is the answer, believing that God is working out His will in my life and the lives of my loved ones. Knowing that when I come to Him, He will be there. That's all He wants from us is to look to Him. So as my heart began to quiet down and I remembered all the promises that are mine, I began to experience this “renewed hope and cheer”, knowing that God is not surprised by all these things going on, He has been working all the time, and His answer is on the way! We will have these times when we are overwhelmed and crushed in our spirits, but we are not alone. God loves us with an unfailing love, so I leave you with this, wait on the Lord, He will guide you and give you strength. He is doing this for me!