Our Hope Endures

Okay, so it's been quite a while I know. Lately, by the time I have a moment to blog, I'm too tired and it makes my head hurt to think about what to write, so I took a break. The good news is, I'm back! We have enjoyed our Summer break with the kids and done well with most of our scheduled activities. This mom, however, is ready for school to start back and I think the kids are too.

In Sunday School, we have been studying suffering. Why we suffer and all that goes with it. I have really enjoyed our discussions and have left several of the classes feeling quite confident that I can "suffer in the right way". I mean, I have been through some tough stuff, leaned on God and felt his peace the whole way through. And I have always survived, I have always learned something new, AND, in the midst of these times of suffering, I have always, always, always, had some idea of where God was leading.

I have been knocked off of my high-horse.

This last week, I have experienced a new kind of suffering. It is somewhat easy (though not fun) to suffer when you know you are doing what God wants you to do. But what if you don't? We have been attacked from every angle this past week, emotionally, physically, financially, spiritually, and whatever else there is. And not by any one major thing....just one thing on top of another. The problem is, none of these things have a solution that we can see or even work towards at the moment. It leaves you feeling hopeless. I do not feel the peace of God in these areas because I don't know what HE wants us to do, where HE wants us to go. I do not think my faith goes away, but I think my sinful worrying and stressing clouds it.

One thing I do have peace about...God hears my cries, He feels my hurt, and He knows what lies ahead for me. He is in control even when I am not. When the path he has chosen for me comes available, He will give me confidence to know. I do not have peace about our lives right now, but I have PEACE that God will get us where he needs us to be. I have FAITH that God will show himself in the end. And I have lots of PRAYERS going up that he will do that quickly lol!..perhaps he is giving us a much needed lesson on patience.

I have found strength in this song....

You would think only
So much can go wrong
Calamity only strikes once
And you assume that this
One has suffered her share
Life will be kinder from here

Sometimes the sun
Stays hidden for years
Sometimes the sky
Rains night after night
When will it clear
But our hope endures
The worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the Earth quake
Our hope is unchanged

How do we comprehend
Peace within pain
Or joy at a good man's wake?
Walk a mile with a woman
Whose body is torn
With illness
But she marches - on
Oh

Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient

We never walk alone
This is our hope
Our hope endures
The worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the Earth quake
Let the Earth quake
Let the Earth quake
Our hope is unchanged


HOW DO WE COMPREHEND PEACE WITHIN PAIN?...OUR HOPE ENDURES! LET THE EARTH QUAKE....MY HOPE IS UNCHANGED!