Hi friends :) I thought I would share my heart a little with you today. I've been praying for clarity in a few areas of my life, because like so many of you, I feel like I am still in a season of transition. Don't get me wrong, there are so many wonderful things to be thankful for in my life, however when certain areas are hidden, it can be difficult to move forward and discouragement and confusion can try and take over. Do you ever else feel like this?
But... in this time of waiting, on days when we think we can't go on another moment, God in all his kindness and extravagance, pours out hope. Ah hope. Life-giving and strength-bringing. Hope refreshes and restores us and gives us the strength to believe again. :)
Did you know, that even when we feel hopeless, our dreams are still there in all their fullness. No matter how we feel or how dark the days get, our dreams are are always always there, faithfully bubbling away, waiting for us and cheering us on.
I was chatting with a friend of mine the other night and we were talking about hope, and how amazing it is, and how we literally cannot go on without it. Think about it, imagine life with no hope? Our souls would just faint and fade away to nothing. But God is relentless in his goodness, he sees every cry of our hearts and every weary tear we shed, and right at the perfect moment, he gives us hope.
I had this funny picture as I was trying to rationalise how precious hope is, and how beautiful it is on our journey through life. When I was little my family would take road trips to Queensland each year. We would always break up the journey with two stops, normally at West Wyalong in New South Wales, and Goondiwindi just over the Queensland border (I know some of you are nodding and smiling cos you have done this too!). If we had taken the entire trip with no breaks we would have been pretty exhausted, and it also would have been pretty dangerous. So we always stopped twice overnight so we wouldn't have to tackle the whole journey in one go.
Anyway, I was thinking about this as an analogy for hope. :) Hope is like stopping overnight on a long journey. Rather than driving for 20 hours straight and 'pushing through', an overnight stop refreshes and revives us for the next leg of the journey. This is what hope does. Just when our hearts feel like they can't take anymore, and life feels like 'too long a drive' he stops us and pours out a brand new river of hope. It restores our weary souls, brings us clarity and peace and gives us new strength for the next leg of our journey.
Living life without hope is almost impossible to imagine. Think about it. Aren't you so thankful for it? No matter how dark the season, or how confusing things feel the there is always the promise of hope. As I am writing these words I actually have a horrible headache, but I had these words in my spirit and I had to put them down. I have so many wonderful things happening in my life, so much to be thankful for, but there are also many things that are unclear to me at the moment. It can be hard to move ahead when you can't see the road clearly, but hope always calls us forward. His promise is that "he knows the plans for us, plans for a hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11) so I choose to hold onto that promise, breathe and take another step, even when I might not be able to see what's around the corner.
So I pray for all of us today. :) You are so dear to me, and I pray that as you are reading these words that you would be filled with fresh and abundant hope today. That something would shift in your life to refresh your soul and make your spirit leap. Our faithful God sees all we need and his promise for us is sure.
"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy
and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope
through the power of the Holy Spirit"
(Romans 15:13)
So let's stick together, encourage one another this week and release hope like never before. :)
Love you my friends and I am cheering you on :)
Nat xo
