Sometimes we hope for the best and plan for the worst. So full of hope at the beginning of a promise God whispers to us.
Being full of faith, we grab it like a kid rummaging through his toys to find his favorite prized toy. KnowingIt will deliver so much joy just like it promised.
We can almost taste the fun. The adventure. Anticipating the memories we will make with this prized toy.
So imagine this toy being lost somewhere in the shuffle. You come across every imaginable thing you just had to have from the store but nowhere in sight are you finding “said” toy.
Your heart deflates as time ticks by. Nowhere within your sight do you see your promised toy.
Your Promise
Now, replace that toy with a promise of something. A dream. A spouse. A child. A job. Time is ticking. The promise was given years ago. Afraid to really believe it, but you did.
You believed hard. You laughed at how impossible it seemed but you caught yourself with anticipating the possibility.
You saw yourself in it. Like a picture painted on a canvas, this wasn’t your imagination then, no more than it is this second.
But now, cobwebs are covering it because it seems so old, so yesterday. so forgotten. Like mauve carpet and hunter green colors hang on, so do I.
Resist Hopelessness
I resist hopeless even if I might be passing through a place where I have less hope. My hope may be a thread, but I hold on to the fringe. Even the fringe is a portion of that hope.
Go into that hall of your soul and pull out your hope chest. Yep, that one. The one you put the newspaper clippings of your first house, your baby’s first outfit and pair of shoes.
That chest is full of promises. Of memories of God being faithful to you. Bitterness has no room in that chest because it’s overflowing with all the parts of you. The good, the bad and even some ugly, but you are a giver of hope. Even when you hope less doesn’t mean you don’t hope at all. It means your passing through different places of hope to stand on a high place.
The High Place
The high place is where God is calling you to be but you must pass through many places that prepare you. Past hurt and hauntings that you wish you could make disappear. They won’t rule you or own you because you passed through them. Walking right through the fear they threatened you with. As you walked through them, right past them, I promised you that I would be with you. And, I was then and I am now.
Your hope chest is where you will give others hope. You will share your story, your trials and triumphs. Your hurts and happiness. Your laughter and anguish.
Your journey is your jackpot so don’t despise the way. You’re a learner and your limp will teach others they can walk on also. Walking with a limp isn’t always bad if it’s a reminder of that wallop of a wrestling day with God.
You can thank your lucky stars that you lost and He said, I’ve got it from here. That day was bliss because He took the fight on. No mud on your face just relief.
We can let go because He grabs on. Grabs our hands like a parent crossing the street with us and says,” We are going to the other side.”
The other side is the finished work of the cross. The stripes He took so that we are healed. Taking on the hopelessness of humanity, so we could all be given hope.
Taking every insult, sting of rejection and the sins of the whole world so we could have a chest full of hope.
The Promise
And that promise you thought He forgot about, is tucked away for a set time. Minutes turned into hours that turned into days, months and years. You swept them into the corner trying to ignore them but they still remind you of what was promised.
Promises promise not to break your heart but it can feel like they do when they don’t show up on our time table. It’s like the promise was given with fingers crossed behind your back and that you might throw your head back with laughter and say, I was just kidding you about that dream. That’s what scares us.
At least then I could comfort my broken heart and say, you’re gonna make it in this place with less hope. But you see, God did not cross his fingers and say He was kidding. He said, I am not like man that I should lie nor the son of man that I should repent. Have I said it and will I not do it? Will I not perform my word to you?
Even as He says it, I feel strength rise up in my soul. I feel boldness come upon my lips as I scream, Yes Lord, you did and I know from my hope chest that you will, so I stand. I stand tll as I stand up to face life. I sing because you sing, I love because you love and I continue to wait because you wait on me. My strength is renewed in you. My hope is in you.
Settle in when you pass through hope-less places knowing that you will be hope-full again.