Rejoice in Hope:

Recently I was in need of some inspiration.  There are times where thoughts are flowing out of me when it comes to writing, and then there are other times when I am struggling to write even a sentence.  So I did the one thing that a person should always do when in need of inspiration, or something uplifting, when you are weary, and when you are even looking for hope.  This is, of course, to look towards the Bible.  I looked through some cards I have of different verses that are from the Bible.  A verse that I found is Romans 12:12, “Rejoice in Hope, be patient in affliction, be persistent in prayer.”  I have read this verse many times, but tonight when I read this, it made my heart happy.  It felt good to think about hope, and I knew that was what I wanted to write about for my next blog post.    

It is finally spring here in Iowa, and the weather is starting to get really warm.  This means that we are now pretty much out of the yucky and cold winter.  (Sorry if there are any readers that really enjoy winter, but also what the heck are you thinking?!)  This is the perfect time to have hope.  There are many who are getting a lot of seasonal depression while dealing with the pain and suffering of the winter months, besides maybe what else may be going on in their personal lives.  I know that I personally receive a bit of seasonal depression, especially when the sun is only out a short amount of time in the day, and it is too cold to appreciate it. I hope that like the weather outside, many of your lives are improving, and you are starting to feel the sun, getting fresh air, and increasing your overall joy.  

One of my favorite stories that is not found in the Bible would have to be Pandora’s box.  Do I believe this really happened? No, I don’t believe in any God but our God, but this story is just an interesting tale and legend.  I won’t retell the whole story, but essentially Pandora was not supposed to open this box, but her curiosity got the best of her, and she ended up opening the box anyway.  The horrible things that are in this world such as greed, hunger, envy, hatred, poverty, war, and death flew out of the box and into the world.  While Pandora was very upset at seeing all these evil things in the world that are now released onto the humans, she would look back into her box and see that there was hope still at the bottom.. It was beaten and weak, plus a little scared, but there it was and she released the hope spirit into the earth.  She knew that if the humans at least had that hope, they would be able to look to something to get them through all the evils now in the world. 

While again I don’t believe this story, I do believe that it is awesome, and it is something that God more or less did.  He didn’t have a box, but he knew that if we as humans were going to be able to live through some of the terrible pieces of life and the things that Satan tries to fight against us, then we are going to need something to keep us going.  That item and thing that we would need is hope.   Satan would rather have us have no hope.  If we had no hope, there is pretty much nothing positive, encouraging, or happy to work or look towards.  When people have just a little bit of hope to look forward to or believe in, then they are more likely to keep going. 

The thing about hope, especially in our Christian world is the hope that we have in the Lord.  This is brought up many times throughout the Bible.  This of course, includes when we are downcast, and we are upset or in a bad place like in Psalm 42:11, “Why my soul, are you so downcast?  Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, Put your hope in God, for I will praise him.”  The Lord is also the main thing that will give us hope and strength.  In Isaiah 40:31 it says, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”  Lastly, looking to the Lord for hope also gives us joy.   Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

If you are right now in a place where you don’t know anything to hope for, I hope you can remember the one thing in the heavens that is always present and good that provides the strength, uplift, and joy.  There is one other verse that I read that should be able to give anyone hope.  That is Isaiah 54:10, “‘Though the mountains move and the hills shake, my love will not be removed from you, and my covenant of peace will not be shaken,’ says your compassionate Lord.”  The Lord will never stop loving you.  You can rest in the hope of the Lord that no matter what happens in the world, the Lord will never leave you.