Hope!

Hope! 

Seeking the face of a loving God!  We are not alone in our affliction, as we ponder His feet in the sand.  A famous poem written to reflect that He carries us through! 

One night I dreamed a dream.

As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.

Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,

One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,

I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,

especially at the very lowest and saddest times,

there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it. 

"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,

You'd walk with me all the way.

But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,

there was only one set of footprints.

I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you

Never, ever, during your trials and testings.

When you saw only one set of footprints,

It was then that I carried you."

- by Mary Stevenson

Hope starts with the trial - Reading in Psalms 22, as David cries out with anguish!  14 - "I am poured out like water, and all is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.  Does your heart feel like this today? My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death!  For dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet."   

Such a vivid picture of what the Lord went through, as He was surrounded by a world full of darkness, deceit,  and demise.  The heart of man so desperately wicked, who could even know it?  The enemy working over-time to cover the eyes of the believer and the unbeliever alike!  

God wants us to know that there is HOPE for the heart of man, and His name is Jesus!  - John 3:16

As I read on in Psalms, David expresses His desire for the Lord to lift Him up!  He says, "show me thy ways oh Lord and teach me thy paths.  Lead me in thy truth and teach me for thou are the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day! Taking the focus off this world and focus on the love of a Saviour that is constantly with you! Seeing the face of Jesus in those around you.  Hold a different prospective with lenses that reflect love!  Waiting and watching, for His redemption is Oh, so near!

 Love the Lord God with all your heart, lean not unto your own understanding and love your neighbor as yourself.....I am looking at the face of Jesus, because, here is the HOPE of a heart after His!  I am believing the heart of Him!  I am trusting Him and He alone can work this out through a heart and mind that is willing to be washed by the blood of the Lamb! 

Heart Homework: Psalms 25

"What man is he that feareth the Lord?  Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.  His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.  The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant!" 

Hope!