Hope Will Rise...


This past weekend I had the opportunity to serve as a mentor and workshop leader for a retreat designed for students feeling a call to full time ministry. As much as I felt like it was privilege to be asked to participate, my heart was not there as we pulled out of the driveway Friday for the weekend. I felt like I was emotionally spent and honestly didn't have a whole lot to offer. It's now Monday afternoon, and I honestly could not be more thankful that I was there this weekend. Not only was it amazingly encouraging to listen to the stories of students feeling called, but God really spoke to me Saturday night. One of my friends and colleagues, Josh, was speaking on Spiritual Disciplines Saturday night, and then gave us about an hour to just be still and spend time praying in creative ways. I was struggling that night feeling as though God had forgotten about me. I don't know why, but I was drawn to the Isaiah 40 passage (I think someone had mentioned that passage in a meeting I was in earlier that week), so I read it and then decided to re-write the passage as a letter to myself from God. I am sharing with you that letter, because I hope that as you are reading this today, and may find yourself struggling, that you would insert your own name and be reminded that God has not forgotten you.

Andrea...don't you know? Haven't you heard? God is the forever God. He created everything from the ocean to the smallest little ladybug. He doesn't and won't ever get tired. He understands EVERYTHING, even when we don't. We can't even begin to comprehend how that works. He has strength for you...even on the days when you have a hard time picking up the pieces of your heart up off the floor. When you are down, broken, and weak, that's when his power is ridiculously strong. You will have A LOT of days in this process of adoption when you are so tired of waiting, so tired of not knowing, and feel like you can't stand up on your own two feet. But, if you choose to hope, to invest your trust, to look to, to believe in, to be expectant of the Lord...that same Creator God, you will find that strength. You will find that kind of strength that says God is bigger than an adoption process, bigger than statistics, bigger that "odds" for referrals, and you will remember and trust his plan. And when you grasp that kind of hope and strength, that can ONLY come from our Creator God, you are going to soar. You will find that the strength and power you will receive will allow you to push through the days of waiting, the days of the unknown, the days that are so painful. And you will make it. Not only will you make it, but God will take you to the highest of heights and allow you to experience his plan...the plan he has always had from the start. Hope will Rise."

This Monday...I am blown away by the word of God and his graciousness to meet us in the pain, carrying us and bringing us to new places.

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