HOPE...

I received a text earlier with the following scripture:

Romans 5:3-5; not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame (disappoint) , because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

I read the text and went about my day... When I went back to read this I thought our hope comes from something that we have seen in our spirit. A glimpse of our future. This is the reason why we hope in it and get excited about it. Something about what we saw, we connected with and believed it was possible. It’s the delay of the manifestation of what we saw in our spirits that causes us to grow weary. What we saw, we saw it so clearly, but what we didn’t see were the things that were going to be in the middle. We didn’t see the growing that we would have to endure or the things we would have to experience before the manifestation of the thing that we hoped for (saw) came to pass.

 

It is very frustrating during this time. I guess that’s why we must continually pray and ask God to renew our strength because we have to know that He will not fail us. We have an expectation of how we think things should play out that will fail us, but never the less we must continue to keep the hope (dream/vision) alive so that we can see it come to pass. This is the part that is the hardest. There will be things that come your way, seeming to look like the vision you saw but it fails to stand up to the task. It’s a look alike, but it’s not it. So, we keep getting our hopes up and let down… only to get our hopes up again and let down again. We try to figure out, what am I doing wrong. I’m too this, or I’m too that. I must change this and I have to change this and before we know it, everything is distorted… where we can’t tell our up from down.

 

My dad describes it as a man walking down the street with his arms swinging wildly, fighting the wind. He’s fighting everything in his sight, when in reality, nothing is in his way except for this thing called process. Just because God shows us something at one point in time, it doesn’t mean that we are ready for it at that time. There are things that will come instantaneously, then there are things that will happen by and by or bit by bit. The question remains… in order for me not to die in the crossfire or in the meantime, what must I do to survive? What must I do to not kill my destiny? What must I do while walking toward my destiny? What must I do to make it over and not die in the meantime?

So Father with what I’ve just read, and written about, Lord I ask that you renew my strength. Father there are some things that I once hoped for and now have grown fearful of because I have yet to see the vision come to pass. I have chosen to focus on the things that are not happening instead of keeping my eyes on the vision. The vision has grown blurry. My hope has come to agitate me instead of bring me joy. I feel as if I’ve lost my way and as if there is nothing more to hope in. Father you said that those who hope in the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not be faint! I pray that my hope returns to you… you who showed me the vision in the first place. I pray that as I place my focus back on you, that my strength arises that I can continue to run the course set before me! I pray that I not curse the place you’ve set before me, but that I may speak to myself, in this moment, that I shall live and not die.  

Thank you for reading. My prayer is that it touched you as it touched me! Please feel free to share this post or share an inspiring word! Remember you are the only you there is, so be good to YOU!