Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God…
…And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Whom He has given us.
Romans 5: 1-2, 5 (NIV)
It’s that feeling you had at the instant your eyes opened today to let in the sunshine of a new morning. It’s the same feeling you have in that first instant each morning—almost every day of your life—before your mind starts down the list of all the reasons for busyness or concern for the day.
Hope!
It’s true. Think about it for a moment. It’s in that first moment when your eyes slide softly open.
Hope! It’s there!
It’s in that moment where you sense that burst of excitement and anticipation. That feeling, for just an instant, that sees the day as one full of possibilities. That first sunshine moment when you believe that all that you want to happen—actually will happen.
Hope!
And it lies within us. It’s too often covered with all the concerns of the day or some insecurity formed within us by people from the past who didn’t understand their role as nurturer in your life, and didn’t see the potential God created within your life. It may be covered by all the times in which we’ve fallen just short in achieving what we set out to accomplish. Or maybe it’s hidden a bit because temptation or bad advice got us off track.
But it’s still there. The hope of the risen Christ for all who believe. The hope of the Holy Spirit—the Helper Christ sent for each one of us—standing ready within us to guide and see us through whatever obstacles have lined up within the hours of our day.
It’s what gets us through those days we can’t get through. Hope!
It’s what fights the illnesses we can’t fight. Hope!
It’s what causes us to get up one more time when we fall. Hope!
It’s knowing that the sun will shine after the rain. Hope!
It’s what I saw in the smile of a dear friend the other day in the grocery store as she sported a new baseball cap covering the hair loss from a new round of chemotherapy to attack the reemergence of cancer.
Hope!
It’s what I felt in the grip of a warrior of God while visiting and praying with her and her husband in the hospital a couple of days ago as she marched relentlessly onward into yet another day of a ten-year battle with multiple myeloma—continuing to believe in the love and power of her living Christ.
Hope!
It’s what I heard in the beautiful soprano voice, and saw in the precious and grateful smile of Barbara Padilla the other night on television. A voice and countenance, I might add, which had emerged from a five-year struggle with cancer—now in remission and following her dream.
Hope!
We are lifted with it by the hand of God, loved with it by the heart of God, warmed with it by the breath of God, guided by it through the gentle whisper of God, and encouraged with it by the constant presence of God.
Hope!
It’s everywhere and it’s within us in the form of the Holy Spirit Who never leaves us.
And it’s a reminder to us that no matter what we go through, no matter where we find ourselves in life, no matter what we face, no matter the heartache, illness or disappointment we experience, no matter the changes which occur—nothing of significant, eternal importance has changed or will ever change…
…God is still on the throne.
Hope!
Now and forever and for all eternity!
Why not open your eyes each morning to that!
In His Name—Scott
Copyright 2009. Scott L. Whitaker. All rights reserved.
