Moments in the Meadow--I Have Hope

This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.

Lamentations 3:21

Jeremiah was sad. He felt old, broken, unloved, and trapped. The wings of his desperate prayers were clipped by the weight of depression. God was silent and His ear wasn't inclined to Jeremiah's desperate cries---or so it seemed.

How about you dear Christian? Is your nest laced with fear, doubt or sadness? The difficult battle raging around you is dragging on. Your sickness, rocky relationship, or persnickety co-worker has obscured your heart's view of your Captain. The battle ridden valley seems to have no mountain top of victory. You're tired, weary and broken. It is not well with your soul. God seems silent.

Find a quiet spot. With your pen and paper begin the recall, refresh and remember process. Recall a previous battle and the soldiers The Captain sent to fight with you. Remember the cards they slipped in your hand, the gift card with enough to buy your groceries for the week, or the smile and hug that held you up when you thought you were going down for the last time. Refreshing actions of love, mercy, and grace extended toward you and shielded you from the onslaught of the enemy.

Remember the victories of life, family, church and personal growth made sweeter as a result of being on the winning side. A bill collector thwarted by a surprise check in the mail, a perplexed doctor as he delivered the miraculous news of no "suspicious spot", or the sweet birth of a healthy child when all medical profession had said "no hope", all point to the God of hope. You've stood on the porch of hope for years waiting for your prodigal son, daughter, or spouse to walk home. One day, as the sun was setting, and your weary soul had just begun to turn away, your whispered hope was rewarded by a slumped, repentant love coming home.

There is Hope--and His name is Jesus--The Great I AM. In your quiet place of resting, lay your pen down. As it rests on the paper of remembrance, let your burden lay with it. Close your eyes. continue your library using your memory of recollection.

As His still, small voice taps out the beat of Hope, allow it to crescendo to a cry of victory. There is Hope. Not because we are anything, but because our God is the same God of David, Daniel and the lion's den, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

As your recollections merge with your realities, let your heart rejoice and say as Jeremiah the Prophet said----therefore, I HAVE HOPE.

joyfully,

Dianne