hope is stirring.

if you have been keeping up with any of my posts lately, you know that im fickle these days.
fickle with trusting His sovereignty, with believing him. i think i relate to Him all to often
like i do friend's or family that have failed me. He's never failed me yet. however, i just cant seem to
figure out why i treat Him like He has. i am thankful that He knows that i am made of dust, and that
He must constantly remind me of His goodness. even in the midst of loneliness, fear, adversity, failure,
joy, strife, victory, and success. He is always with me.

i have taken great comfort in His sovereignty in these last few hours.
i looked up what wikipedia has to say about sovereignty. here it is:
Sovereignty is the exclusive right to have complete control over an area of governance, people, or oneself.
A sovereign is the supreme lawmaking authority, subject to no other.
( i am reminded that i am not good enough to mess up his plan, or bad enough for that matter )
what any man, whoever he may be, orders on his own, is not a law. there is no law without a sovereign.

how good it is to rest in that. and how often, how many moments of the day to i fret over my feelings
of failure, or floundering.

one of my favorite verses in all of the Bible is Lamentations 3:21.
jeremiah had it much worse than i have ever had, but he still had hope,
and even after the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple of God, and so many lives,
he still spoke of the Lord's love and compassion.
i love Lam. 3:21 because it reminds me, when i am plagued with so little faith, to recall the roads i have walked,
and where He has taken me from strength to strength in the past, because HE is faithful.
Jeremiah says, "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:"
(please go read the WHOLE chapter: http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lamentations+3)
he recalls the Lord's faithfulness in the past and is reminded of his mercy, love and compassion.
what great comfort there is in knowing that he cares, and that HE cares enough to have complete control,
so much control that i and no one else can do anything to change HIS plan for me, for you.
THAT IS WONDERFUL.



the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
there is a song that i have had on repeat today that i will post later.
its amazing.

some thoughts from others on hope . . .


If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. -Antoine De Saint

The inability to open up to hope is what blocks trust, and blocked trust is the reason for blighted dreams. - Elizabeth Gilbert

Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence. - Lin Yutang

To eat bread without hope is still slowly to starve to death. - Pearl Buck

None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free. - Pearl Buck

The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure but from hope to hope. - Samuel Johnson

Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope? - Job 4:6

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. - Ps. 62:5

But I WILL HOPE CONTINUALLY and will praise you yet more and more. - Ps. 71:14

and this ...

but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. -Ps. 147:11

HOPE: To wish for something with the expectation of the wish being fulfilled. Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope implies a certain amount of despair, wanting, wishing, suffering or perseverance — i.e., believing that a better or positive outcome is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary.

We hold within us the reason, the answer, THE one who IS HOPE !