Hope

Daughter is at Church Youth Camp in another town this week - her first time to be away from home by herself. I dropped her off at the church yesterday morning and she comes home Saturday afternoon. I already miss her terribly, and check the camp's website several times a day to get updates as to what the kids are doing and learning about. I pray that she is having a fabulous time (I'm sure she is!) and learning much about Jesus and about life.

But truly, only years and experiences will teach her the real lessons of life. The fact that life is sometimes hard, sometimes scary. Lessons I have learned over and over. Sometimes loved ones get sick. Sometimes there's not enough money. Sometimes people let you down. And sometimes you face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. But as Christians we have the Holy Spirit living in us, and imparting eternal life, hope, and spiritual gifts to us. What keeps us from truly experiencing the Holy Spirit? Mainly because we view life's circumstances from our own point of view rather than God's. We pray for God to make things the way we want them to be, rather than praying for Him to show us what He wants us to do. God is not just our "helper" that is outside us; the Holy Spirit resides IN us, and He wants to live life thru us, and this all comes down to trust.

"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

I know all this, and I believe it. I do. God is GOOD, and He is FOR us. So why, as I face one of those seemingly insurmountable obstacles in my life, am I so stressed out that the muscles in my neck and shoulders are in knots? Why do I worry when God clearly tells me NOT to worry, that He will never leave or forsake me? Why do I believe all that in my head, but can't feel it in my heart? How can I learn to see things from God's perspective instead of my own? How can I relinquish control? I once heard a story about a little girl who sat at her grandmother's knee as she did her needlepoint. From the bottom, the stitching was a mess, with knots and threads going every whichaway, but to her grandmother, who was seeing it from above, it made a perfect and beautiful picture. That's how we are with God. From where we are things look like a mess, but He is looking down from above and seeing the whole picture. I believe we must have a daily dependence on the Holy Spirit to give us the mind of Christ. I may have to read my Bible and pray for peace in my heart every single day. Because if I have no hope, I have nothing.

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." Ephesians 1:18-19a

Just show me, God, where you want us to go.