Hope Tied Tightly With Trust and Faith

We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. -Hebrews 6:18

Hope. It's a challenging word. It's even more challenging to live through it. But as Christians, we are called to cling to it because our ultimate hope is Jesus Christ. I've been discovering and pondering (particularly today) how trust and hope go hand in hand. They are almost one and the same and they tie themselves to faith. 

I have been in a season of transition for the past month and to say that it's been challenging is an understatement. My heart has had to learn how to squeeze tightly to Jesus and to befriend the disciplines of stillness, patience, hope, trust, and faith. Like a tree awaits the spring after the winter, so my heart has been awaiting for promises to be fulfilled and for a new season. But there's something to be said of having to discipline our souls and hearts to place their trust in the Lord. The waiting and the perseverance builds character. It also reveals the inadequacies and weaknesses in us--reminding us forever the same that we are a people in desperate need. We need the Lord to come through. We need him to reveal His ways to us. We need a deep drink from His fountain of life, so that we are able to keep moving forward.

I'm still waiting for the Lord to move upon my heart and situation. Some days move as slowly as the dripping directly from the honeycomb. Others move by so rapidly, I almost feel that I am out of time. But the Lord's timing is always perfect. Never forget this. Let it resonate deeply in every fiber of your being. Your hope is in the living God! He isn't dead. He's alive and active in your life!!! He truly is. Grab hold of hope and you will find its companions of trust and faith.

I'm grabbing ahold today. Are you?

Beautiful Change

Our days consist of the mundane mixed in with continual surprises--good and bad. The one constant in our life is knowing that our lives are forever changing. This is a challenging truth to swallow. Because, let's face it: We get used to things being as they are. Change is difficult and uncertain. It causes us to show our true colors and forces us into the abyss of the unknown. Whether it's a move, a new relationship, a loss, or physical ailment, change is emminent.

My life is in the midst of change at the moment. Honestly, I've been here emotionally for a month, but was unwilling to truly accept it. I liked my life where it was. I had a plan of where it would be within 5 years and then 10 years and then change came. It swept in like a tornado--no warning or indicator that it was coming. It just came. It uprooted me and left me in a place of reflection.

And I'm not comfortable here. I'm truly not. But I know that when extreme change has occurred in the past, amazing surprises followed. And so, I hold on--like a skydiver clenching to the parachute on his back. There is uncertainty on where exactly he'll land, but he knows that he'll land just the same. And for the moment, he's given the gift of looking at the world from a new perspective--soaking in the ride as he makes his plan for the landing.

So, for those of you who might be uncertain of the change that is ever before you, don't be afraid of it and don't try to "plan" it out before it occurs. Just take it when it comes. Think of it as an adventure and embrace the exciting unknown before you. After all, it's just a turn in the journey--this beautiful journey of life that you're on!

Words Unspoken

Each day is a gift--truly, it is. Recently, my heart has been exposed and is definitely more raw & aware than I thought it could ever be. I've been reflecting on moments--those that have stirred me, touched me, & have truly left me changed. As I've started recalling them, I've realized how many of them occurred without a single word being spoken. There was a look or a touch--an unspoken place in time. Whether it was through holding a dying child or sitting quietly in my father's reading room with nothing but a peaceful fire to keep us company, my heart was stirred. I was reminded that it's in the "little" moments that draw our hearts together. It is in the small that the "big" pivotal moments happen.

So why is it that we're continually seeking for giant moments to see that our lives are worthwhile? Life is like a puzzle. You pour out the pieces from the box & each piece is scattered to its own, but shape by shape, the colors come together & form a picture that was absent before. And it's in those small pieces that bring an epiphany to what was there the entire time. And so it is with our unspoken moments. When the moment comes (and it will), don't try to fill the space with words, but allow yourself to "be" in the moment. You will find yourself changed & speaking to the unspoken places in that moment--unspoken places of the heart.