His Endless Gifts: Hope

This post is part of the His Endless Gifts series. I would love for you to join me every week. If you haven't already, please subscribe so you don't miss out! 

The days were dark from the large clouds hovering over. Each day they seemed to grow bigger and heavier weighing on me, the space between the clouds and myself getting smaller. I would look up, but all I could see were the dark clouds and nothing beyond.

No light, no hope, no joy.

Then there would be days when the clouds appeared a little lighter, perhaps receding some? A possibility of a sliver of light trying to poke through?

Those were the days he had enough. He wanted to get clean. He promised he would. The hope would return. He could beat this! We would have the life we always talked about, to get married and have kids. My heart would fill with hope and I would begin to dream again. We would have a family. A girl name already picked out, images of little boys who looked just like their dad. But it was always short lived and my dreams would come crashing down around me...again and again. The broken pieces of my heart lying at my feet.

That is how my life was like being in a relationship with an addict. The highs and lows and wanting to be strong for him. To fix him, to take all his hurt and agony away. To wait and hope until that day would come when he would be free and all our dreams would come true.

To hope is to cherish a desire with anticipation. It usually refers to something in the future.

 How many times do we put all of our trust and hope in our own abilities and desires?

"The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love." Psalm 147:11

Well, that was many years ago, obviously before kids and before I was walking with Jesus. This past Easter morning I awoke with such a gladness in my spirit. I realized I am now filled with hope. After all, it was Resurrection Day! Imagine how much hope Jesus' disciples must have had when they saw Him alive! All their hopes and dreams that crashed around them days before are now possible once again! 

Jesus died and rose again, defeating death. He is our hope! We have hope because as believers our old lives have died with Him that day on the cross and we are made new creatures in Him! We have hope that He will return and we will spend eternity with Him! 

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit."

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Let me ask you, are you walking in the hope the Lord gives?  If not, turn to Him for He has great plans for you! "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Have a blessed day!

Please join me next week as we celebrate the gift of love.