Hope Beyond Hope

'Tis the season to be jolly.

 

Joy to the World!

 

Fa-La-La-La-La-La-La-La-La!
 

Just this past week, all this news came in:

"My mother has hospice coming in; it's just a matter of days."
 

My husband has cancer; it doesn't look good.

"The cancer has gone into the bones; the prognosis is not good."

"They've given her about 2 months; there is nothing more they can do."
 

"She has water on the brain; they have to do surgery to put in a permanent shunt."
 

"My husband hasn't talked to me in four days."
 

 

Seriously, all of the above are real-life situations that real-life people are dealing with. 

 

Hope?  

Where is hope in the midst of all these situations? 

 

 

It almost seems trite to tell some one to "hope for the best."  How do we hold onto hope when faced with life and death situations; when faced with relational conflict that has not changed for over 25 years, so where is the hope that it ever will?  How do we hold onto hope when faced with wondering how we are going to pay the heating bill at the end of the month?

 

When we pray and we trust, we trust and we pray and it almost feels like hope is mocking us! 

How do we go on?

 

It's risky to hope!  We're taking a huge risk by putting our hearts out there believing for the best, not knowing if we will receive what we hope for or not!

 

 

BUT - hold fast to your hope.  Don't let it slip away for it's only when we lose hope that the real trouble begins!! 

 

Hold fast with open hands lifted to God in hope - for our hope is in Jesus! 

Welcome Him into your situation and hold fast to Him!

 

There are no easy answers to the questions I've posed here - at least I don't have any answers.  All I know is that:

 

God is always good and we are always loved!!

 

His heart is moved by your situation and He wants to walk through it with you. 

 

He alone has the answers - He IS the answer!

 

Our hope is in Him!