Where is the Hope?

Hope. It's been a word that has become more special to me over the past 5 years. It began when I found it in Lamentations 3:21- "This I call to mind and therefore I have HOPE." Then again in Romans 15:13, a verse that God gave Jason's mom- "May the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace....."

Since then, I usually get Jason's mom something for Christmas with hope written on it, and she does for me as well.

I'm learning that even though we have that hope, we must do what is says in Lamentations: call to mind, remember, set our minds to it. It's like having electricity but not flipping the switch. We know it's there, but we must turn it on.

Over the past few days, many situations, personally and that of others, have come to mind. Where is the hope in these things?

-A little empty stocking hanging with the rest, that won't be filled.

-A family whose loved one was killed in war, will gather without him this year.

- A mother who lost her son this year, and his birthday was Christmas day.

- A broken crib that lay on the side of the road, never to be used again.

- A couple who both lost their fathers this past year.

- A mother whose divorce was final now has to split the holiday time with her ex.

- A young bride wanting a child of her own, who masks the tears with a smile when she faces others with babies

-A family whose baby is buried six feet away from Pruitt, who will face the one year anniversary of his birth/death this next week

I'm sure the list could go on and on. "It's a sharp knife of a short life" as one song says. All seem like hopeless situations and they are, if we focus on the circumstance itself. It's very easy to do, especially when it feels like that "sharp knife" just twists deeper in your heart. Sometimes just when you think the knife is gone, something happens and you feel the pain all over again. For some reason, it seems easier to focus on the storm than the one who calms the storm. I don't really know why that is but I have found that I probably do the former more than the latter. I find myself comparing my situation to that of others and still asking, "Why me?" It is in those times that I must "call to mind" the grace of God and "therefore have HOPE."

Sometimes I feel as though I look at these things as those who have no hope, but I'm reminded of the verse that says we do not grieve as those who have no HOPE. We have hope in seeing them again one day because of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. It is not the word hope we use when we say, "Oh, I hope it doesn't rain today." Or "I hope my team wins the game." Rather, it is HOPE that we are sure of, the Hope of glory.

So, as I look around my house, I find the word HOPE in almost every room. I wear it, I see it, I will claim it. "Yet this I call to mind, and therefore have HOPE; The Lord's love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning; Lord your loyalty is great. I say to myself, "The Lord is mine, so I HOPE in him. The Lord is good to those who HOPE in him to those who seek him." Lamentations 3:19-25.