“Everything about God is great, vast, incomparable. He never forgets, never fails, never falters, never forfeits His word. To every declaration of promise or prophecy the Lord has exactly adhered, every engagement of covenant or threatening He will make good.” ~ A.W. Pink
“There is more safety with Christ in the tempest than without Christ in the calmest waters.” ~ Alexander Grosse
“The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you today and every day. He will either shield you from suffering or will give you unfailing strength to bear it.” ~ St. Francis de Sales
“In the darkest hour, when I cannot breathe Fear is on my chest, the weight of the world on me Everything is crashing down, everything I had known When I wonder if I’m all alone
I remember, I remember You have always been faithful to me I remember, I remember Even when my own eyes could not see You were there, always there…”
Nature Retreat
“The natural world provides humanity with untold gifts. It cleans water, pollinates plants and provides pharmaceuticals, among others. Thirty trillion dollars worth of services, scot-free to humanity, every year.” E. O. Wilson
Pollinators Are Important
I loved going to this pollinator plot. Sometimes we don’t realize the impact pollinators have on our environment. And it inspires me to be a pollinator of love and kindness in this world. 🙂
Did you know that squirrels stash away so many nuts that they forget where some of them are hidden? These forgotten nuts often grow into trees, meaning they play a role in conserving our ecosystem!
“The squirrels hoard nuts and the bee gathers honey, without knowing what they do, and they are thus provided for without selfishness or disgrace.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson.
“Hopelessness sucks you dry of any peace or victory in your life. It can be almost suffocating, stealing the Word from your heart and blanketing you with heaviness.”
(Guideposts)
Do you ever feel this way? It’s an awful feeling when it seems the life is sucked right out of us. We try to grab and hold onto the promises, but they slip from our grasp. Losing all hope in the mercy of God.
Even when we don’t always feel it, God keeps His promises. Sometimes we have to wait a looong time, but never so long as some of the people in the Old Testament had to wait. After God’s last promise of His Son coming, there were 2,000 years of silence. Can you imagine? They must have felt so hopeless at times. The Savior had not yet come. They had to cling to God’s promises that He would come.
It’s impossible for God to lie. When He gives a promise, it is more than 100% certain He will keep it. We know today the promise of a Savior was kept. Jesus has come. He has paid the price. He has given hope and still gives hope to hopeless souls.
“We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up His permanent post as High Priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:18-20 The Message
When the storm waves jerk the ships of our souls back and forth, up and down, the rope to the anchor of hope won’t break, because it is made of the unbreakable love of a faithful God.
We may sometimes feel like hope is forever gone from our hearts, and it would be if it were up to us. But even when we cannot see it, Jesus is the unbreakable Lifeline that leads us to salvation, safety, and solace.
We have this hope, this strong and trustworthy anchor, that reaches into the very certainty of the Presence of God. Yes, He’s waiting for us to flee to Him for refuge with all the broken pieces of our lives.
“We see our failures and our lack of faith, but God sees what we will become as His Spirit faithfully works through the broken pieces of our lives. God’s timing always perfectly matches His plans, even if sometimes it runs roughshod over ours.” Sheila Walsh
“Hope in Front of Me”
by Danny Gokey
“There’s hope in front of me There’s a light, I still see it There’s a hand still holding me Even when I don’t believe it I might be down but I’m not dead There’s better days still up ahead Even after all I’ve seen There’s hope in front of me…”
Some of this is from a 2014 post that I feel nudged to share this week. Many of you did not know about this blog yet at that time, so it will probably be new to you. 🙂
May we hang onto the unbreakable Lifeline of Hope!
Are you discouraged or afraid of what awaits us in this new year? Perhaps while others are singing “Happy New Year,” you are entering this year with worry about what’s around the corner for us in this journey of life.
I think being a worrywart is my life’s default mode. It can weigh my heart down so much that I have trouble remembering how strong God is to overcome the giants blocking the way. I compare myself with the giants instead of comparing the giants with God.
I’m learning step by step to trust God and His all-sufficient grace more than the giants. And more than my feelings. My feelings can sway with the wind and can be misleading. They can cause me to cower and curl up in a ball of defeat when the giants overshadow me. They tell me that God has forgotten to be merciful in this world.
Not true! God’s Almighty power, love, and faithfulness never sway or change. God is loyal, constant, and steadfast. He was faithful in the past, He will be faithful today, and He will remain faithful in our future. He still has this whole world and every single heart in His hands.
So does He condemn us when we do worry? Never! There is NO condemnation in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) Others may tell us worry is a sin and we should “just have faith,” making our burdens even greater. But God knows how weak and frail we humans can be. He understands us more than anyone. His patience with us is bottomless. His love for us never lessens when we slip into worry or distrust of His plans.
Isn’t His love amazing?! No matter what we do or don’t do, He just keeps on drawing us into His love and inviting us to surrender our anxiety and burdens into His Almighty Hands and His all-sufficient grace.
“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
We cannot know what will happen this year, and it’s a good thing we don’t. But God always knows. He has plans for each and every one of us. Plans to prosper us and not to harm us. Plans to give us a hope and a future.
Does this mean there won’t be struggles, losses, or pain in our lives? Definitely not. Here we will have trouble. But the wonder is that even when it “feels” like God’s designs are against us, the absolute truth is that He is still working out everything towards our good.
The hope and future He plans to give us may seem a long time coming. But it will come, because He is a faithful Promise-Keeper. Someday our journeys here will end in a most glorious conclusion.
Meanwhile, may we take His hand and follow Him wherever He may lead us in this year, remembering that He has promised to be our refuge through all the storms in life and our Almighty strength in all our weakness. We are safe in His hands. He has proved that in the past, and He will continue to be our help today and in the future.
“God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable], A very present and well-proved help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 AMP
“You Raise Me Up”
by Josh Groban
“When I am down and, oh, my soul, so weary; When troubles come and my heart burdened be; Then I am still and wait here in the silence, Until You come and sit awhile with me.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains; You raise me up to walk on stormy seas; I am strong when I am on Your shoulders; You raise me up to more than I can be…”
Freed to Fly 