Day 12: Love Always Hopes

HOPE...

                Hope is a word that speaks for itself.

Hope is what drives us toward a goal
             
               Hope helps us release a loved one after death... knowing that we will see them again

Hope is why a person goes into treatment for an addiction that has ravaged their life

                Hope says, "keep running to the finish line"

Hope brings energy to an exhausted  and weary body

              Hope tells an abused wife to seek help and refuge from the abuser

Hope is the light at the end of the tunnel

             When we are tempted to quit and give up... Hope keeps us going

When we fear the worst, hope reminds us that God is in control.

              When there seems to be no way, hope shows us the way

 Love Always Hopes!                


In a world where people fail us daily, trust is easily broken and when giving up looks all too tempting, God offers us Hope!
           
Have you ever found yourself saying, "this is a hopeless situation!"
                 
                                           If your answer is yes... then let me tell you... there is hope.

Often we look at the situation, the people involved and say there is no way...
We want the bills to be paid, we want the abuse to stop, we want the burden to not feel so heavy...
The hope doesn't come from the situation... it comes from God.

Hope in things, people, circumstances or situations will ALWAYS leave us wanting more...

Psalms 71:5 reminds us that our hope is in the Lord.

When we attach expectations and hope to our circumstance we nudge out God. Yet without hope we are bankrupt.

As we daily learn to be more intentional about the way we love people, begin to remove the hope from the circumstance or person and place your hope with God.

Misdirected hope sets you up to feel betrayed and abandoned, however loving intentionally reminds us that a person can't nor ever will feel in the gap reserved for the hope God offers.

Over the past year my husband and I have faced some of the hardest financial times in our marriage. Tim began residency in June 11' and our move to Kentucky caused us to take a $45,000/year pay cut.

Hopes and dreams are generally connected... Tim making it through medical school and now residency has been no exception.

Our hope that we are moving toward God's best for our family is what keeps the vision alive.

There have been months that we seriously didn't know if the power would be shut off, we wondered how food would be put on our table. Our vehicles have broke down, the kids needed supplies, money for school, gas to fill our tank, at times it felt impossible .........

But for God.....

Our pay has not increased...
However, we have received a gift card in the mail from an unidentified person, we have been blessed with groceries from the food bank, our vehicles have began to work even when no repairs were made....

Our hope has not been in people, rather our hope is in the Lord.

We trust God because He alone is our hope.

When I have been pressed to my max because my load is so heavy, God has provided a way of relief.

When Tim's work week moves from 70 hours and hovers around 100, I have hope that God is sustaining our family.

What does it look like when 'Love Always Hopes?'

Perhaps you have been blessed with resources, skills, talents and abilities that are unique for what someone needs. Not to say that you are their hope, but rather to say God can use your sacrifice to offer hope to a person.

Love always hopes.... because God is the source of every good gift.

A couple of months ago I stood in a long line of people to receive groceries. Inside I felt like I was going to die. I was embarrassed, humbled and I felt like I was alone.  I couldn't believe that in pursing God's best I would have to ask others for help.

As I stood in that line on two different occasions I began to realize that my Hope is in the Lord.... and that I was being offered a gift that would provide yet again something that our family needed.

Often Hope has to squeeze out your pride... Hope has to bring you to the bottom so that you can fully understand where hope comes from.

Every check my family received in the mail, every gift card, every small act of kindness from a person was showering Gods love!

Someone was being intentional!

Someone was restoring our hope...

God provides through other people.

If your marriage is on the brink of disaster... would you be willing to lose your pride and ask for help?

Love ALWAYS hopes... And since God is Love... our hope is in God's gift not ours.

Do you feel hopeless financially? Pride will keep you in that place of hopelessness.

Is your situation hopeless?

Don't rely on the person to be the solution to the problem... You will never be good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, a good enough wife/husband, father/mother, friend, brother or sister....

You cannot be someone's hope... Only God can be. When God is someone's hope, opportunities for you to be His hands and feet become obvious.

Opportunities for God to show up, happen because you respond to that nudging from God inside...

The nudging that says...

             Pray with that woman at the bus stop....
                    Pay for the person's groceries in the line in front of you.....
                              Offer a ride.....
                                    Do something...

Love intentionally today.

Challenge:
Look for an opportunity each day to speak words of affirmation, give of the resources that God has blessed you with, listen to that voice inside that nudges you toward action.
Stop ignoring God's call on your life to point others to Him. You never know when God will use your intentional actions to offer hope to the weary soul.

Share a time in the comment area below when someone else showed up in just the nick of time. Encourage others through your stories.

God has gifted and trusted you with so much. Will you be intentional in the way you respond to others around you?

Love Always Hopes!!!