His hope

I opened my Message Bible to this verse today:

 "Guard my common good: Do what's right and do it in the right way.  For salvation is just around the corner, my setting things right is about to go into action."  Isaiah 56:1 The Message

We all have our minds on Easter, well at least I do.  That verse is Old Testament foreshadowing to His death and resurrection.  The title of that chapter is "Messages of Hope".  Hope is sometimes all we have.  Hope for the future.  Hope for tomorrow.  We have hope for most things that are important to us.  We hope for people.  We hope for change. There are lots of sayings about hope, the one that specifically comes to mind is "Hope springs eternal".  We are always hoping for something, no matter how many times we are let down we keep on hoping.  

"He rekindles burned-out lives with fresh hope, Restoring dignity and respect to their lives— a place in the sun." 1 Samuel 2:6  The Message

I am a girl that definitely believes in hope. In fact I cling to hope sometimes.  I'm sure you know that about me if you've followed me for any amount of time, but like I said..."Sometimes all you have is hope."  You want to, "Put a comma where He has put a period."  But when He puts in a period, nothing that we can say or do will turn that period into a comma.  Oh man do we try and sometimes it works for a second, but it normally ends in more heartache, but the above verse gives us hope...

When we have been burnt out on hope in people, places or things, He brings a new fresh hope in His Son, because He is the only one we can put our hope in that won't let us down.

I know that I am guilty of clutching onto hope so hard that I have lost dignity and respect in myself, but when we hope in Him we are restored.  Even when we feel as though we are in the dark (the wilderness) we are given "A place in the sun."

So like I said, I've ventured out of the wilderness. I'm no longer walking in circles, or wandering without a flashlight.  Like Martha, I put my hope in Him and not in my circumstances.  It's interesting that it took me so long to figure this out, but the wilderness is dark and scary and like I've said before its easy to get lost.  So I was on and off this path over and over again until the sun peeked out from behind the clouds and I was able to find my way out.

I am thankful that I only wandered for a short while, sometimes people wander for their entire lives.  There's no secret passageway out of the wilderness, its a journey and a struggle.  But when your on the other side you start to become grateful  for the journey and you become aware of the strength that you had to muster to walk out of the wilderness.  You start to understand that though your faith wavered, it never faltered.  You begin to really feel good about yourself, because it was you and only you that walked out.  Sure you had support, but you did all the hard work on your own.  As you look back you realize that the steps you had been taking, even though they were in the dark and though you stumbled several times, the steps were the right steps.  You start to see that the period was just the beginning of a new chapter.

The mistakes you made while in the wilderness start fading from your memory and you start looking forward to the next page turn.  You want to go to everyone that supported you and thank them for all that they did.  For holding you when you needed holding.  For encouraging you when you thought you were at the end of your rope and for never giving up on you, even when you had given up on yourself. 

Life is tough in the wilderness, but the journey is worth the struggle.  What's the old saying, "He never closes a door without first opening a window."  Well maybe that's not it exactly but I think you get the picture.  After walking through the wilderness, you come out on the other side a different person.  Your perspective has changed and your life will never be the same again.