But there is always a reason to hope. I can’t pretend to know what you’re going through, and I can’t walk in someone else’s shoes. Just like you couldn’t walk in mine years ago when I was on the brink of hopelessness. I was also living a life that was all about me – I didn’t know or want to know about God. I was much like the person the Apostle Paul describes in Galatians:
Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction (Galatians 6:8a)
I can speak for myself, and I know when I was at my lowest point I was far from God. I would even say that it was when I was at my lowest that I finally had to look up and see that He was there. When I first decided to give my life to Christ, I really wasn’t sure just what I was getting into. As I grew in my faith, I realized the beauty of the second person Paul describes:
Whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:8b)
Ironically (I’m convinced God loves irony), the less I make things about me, the more like me I become. What I mean is that this version of me – the one who lives by faith – is the version of me that feels closest to who I want to be. And this version of me has hope.
When I was focused on my wants and my needs, I was just as likely to be miserable as I was happy. When I focus on what God has already done, and how He loves me, the same ups and downs of life can no longer take away my hope. Now my hopes aren't tied to current events, but in an event that took place on a cross atop a hill over 2,000 years ago.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
#LoveMatters