Hope

So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. ~ Deuteronomy 31:6, NLT

Do not be afraid ... The Lord your God himself will fight for you. ~ Deuteronomy 3:22

While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the Lord gave him this second message: “This is what the Lord says—the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the Lord: Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come. ~ Jeremiah 33:1-3

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
 
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

As with everything, it always seems that God gives me the message I need to hear, when I need to hear it.  Last week, it was the message of "Rest" [and I'm SO looking forward to my week of "relaxing" at home with my family and hanging out at VBS].

Yesterday and today, it was a message of hope.  That God is looking out for me, for us.  Several verses, yeseterday's sermon, highlighted God's control over situations.  I'm not looking at our situation properly.  I'm shortsighted, looking at what's going on only in terms of the present, in terms of this life.

I've been frustrated lately, with so many varied things, and with so much that I have no control over. And yet, we are blessed.  Maybe we aren't exactly where we think we should be.  But I have to believe that there is something out there for us that we are being prepared for.  There is something amazing planned.

As Joyce Meyer tweeted this morning: @JoyceMeyer: Ask God to help you live in hope and declare by faith, “Something good is going to happen to me!”