There are times when we are in such distress and despair that words of hope do not resonate. They do not sink in. We are not in a place to hear them and accept them. Hope can feel so very far away – maybe even non-existent. It doesn’t mean the search has ended – we all, in some way, are looking for it. We want to live hopeful. We want to feel there is some sense of hope still to be found. But to just read it can fall short – our heart may not be in a place to accept the gift.
And yet, we can experience hope in others. We can see it in them. We want that hope. We want to know where it can be found. It isn’t that the other person has it all together. It isn’t that their life is perfect. It’s often quite the opposite. We see their life actually in shambles and yet…there is something there. There is glimmer of light which we crave. We are not envious or jealous of the other. We simply want to observe. What is it that keeps them going? What do they see that we cannot see in our current pain?
The key is often an experience with hope. The reminder that this is not the end. There is good. There still is joy to be lived. There is a promise of peace. There really is hope. Good is still out there. Good is still in here. We are not alone. This path does not define us. Can you see the hope?
Here are some places where I am reminded of the hope deep within (sometimes so deep it takes seeing it in another to really know it is still there). Hope is still here:
Psalm 33
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
Psalm 42
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help 6 and my God.
Psalm 62
5 For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
Psalm 71
14 But I will hope continually,
and will praise you yet more and more.
Psalm 130
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY 