Grab the Promised Hope

Belinda Kersey 1/25/09

God’s Word

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. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us Hebrews 6:18-20 The Message

The Song “Our Hope Endures” by Natalie Grant

My Thoughts “How do we comprehend peace within pain” are words from a song that speak to every person who has ever experienced pain of any kind.  Unfortunately, in this world there are so many ways to experience pain- pain of loss, pain of sickness, pain of despair.  But God has provided one way to experience utter peace in any pain, to “endure the worst of conditions”, to have hope in the very center of the hopeless situation and that is to know that Emmanuel-our God is with us and that he is the rock we can hold onto in  every trial we face.
  

When our bodies are racked by disease but we can say that “our hope is unchanged” we have reached the point where God is our all sufficient one.  When “the sun stays hidden for years” and our hope still endures then we have come to the place where we know beyond all doubt that God is truly our Emmanuel-He is with us and He is enough.

Some say that I have a positive outlook because I have joy even in the face of an incurable disease.  In fact, before returning to the work force, I had a psychological evaluation to determine my best skills and my ability to reenter the workforce.  The psychologist determined that I took the life outlook test “defensively”, that I intentionally chose the answers that would show me as the most positive possible.  Well, what that man did not know about me is, despite the circumstances, I do have a hope and I do believe that my situation is positive because I know the Creator of my body, mind and soul.  That Creator has promised me wholeness and has promised me that He is with me every moment and I stand firm on those promises.

I did not have to be “defensive” in my test taking to show myself in the best light-no, I took the test with God’s light shining through me!  “It’s more than (my) optimism!.”  It is Christ in me, it is El Shaddai who is more than sufficient in ALL areas of my life.

It is the resolve that Job had when he told his wife “Why do I go out on a limb like this and take my life in my hands? Because even if he killed me, I'd keep on hoping.”  This is the resounding hope I have grabbed with both hands and we will never let go. “We never walk alone, this is our hope.  Our hope endures the worst of conditions. It's more than our optimism, let the earth quake our hope is unchanged!”

Your Response

Look to the heavens from where your hope comes.  Thank your Creator for walking beside you in this storm.  Thank Him for the hope that is found in Him.