Hope - Part 2

While the holidays are merry and bright for some, they are anything but for others. Whether you’ve lost a loved one to death, find yourself deployed or working far away from friends and family , or have gone through divorce, these can be some of the darkest days of your year. I know. I’ve been there. Where we once called “home” is no longer where we live. Family traditions are a thing of Christmas past. Holidays mean shared custody of your children, sometimes feeling like a tug of war. Quiet evenings alone with your thoughts of “what if?” and “why me?” and empty chairs around the dinner table replace a life once known. All of these changes harden our hearts and hope seems far away.

But friends, I’m here to tell you that there is hope. The same God who blessed you with the loved ones and relationships you mourn and the traditions you hold dear is with you still. He loves you the same today as yesterday, and He will be there for you tomorrow. God loves you so much that He sent His only son to die as a sacrifice to make your eternity with Him assured. If you were the only person on this earth, He would have died for you. If you were one of 100 who strayed, He would leave the 99 and come to find you. He seeks you and your whole heart. When you let Him in, the hope comes back. I promise and so does He.

 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Matthew 7:7-11

So, go ahead and be sad for a while. Own that pain,really feel it, and then lay it down. Place it along with all of your cares at the feet of Jesus. He will take the pain and replace it with a promise of hope. Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my favorite go to verses when I question why I am where I am in my life.
 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

​Rest on the promises of God, and know you are loved right where you are. No one can love you more completely than Jesus Christ. Find hope there and let yourself enjoy the life you are living. God bless you today and every day.

 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.Matthew 11:28