Hope

My son is reading "The Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King for his English class right now which was made into a terrific movie that came out many years ago. 

There is one scene in particular that sticks out in my head from a movie with many memorable scenes.  The protagonist Andy is speaking with a fellow inmate named Red who was incarcerated for life as a young man for a foolish crime and has repeatedly been denied parole for over 60 years.

Andy questions Red about Hope and Red answers: 

"Listen my friend.  Hope is a dangerous word. "

I agree that there is some real danger around hope but unlike Red,  I believe that the true danger with Hope exists only when we risk losing it.

Hope is such a critical and core facet of our faith and one of the true keys to our pursuit of peace, joy an happiness that we have to be careful to cultivate and protect it daily.

No matter the storm or trial you may find yourself in today,  God gives us the gift of Hope to take us by the hand and guide us away from the pain and grief and despair toward Him and everlasting and pervasive peace and joy!

We must keep that Hope and Trust in our hearts daily and FOCUS on that alone as we navigate this life filled with challenges and trouble.

We can do this through daily prayer and faith in the Lord.

Stay Strong!

WHEN YOU FEEL UNABLE TO PRAY, REMEMBER THAT THE SPIRIT HIMSELF INTERCEDES FOR YOU WITH GROANS THAT WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS.

Some of your prayers that you consider frantic and unintelligible are actually quite profound.

They rise from the depths of your heart—all the way to heaven.

To form these deep prayers, you need only turn toward Me with the concerns that lie heavy on your heart.

I want you to watch in HOPE as you wait for Me, your Savior.

Wait expectantly: confident that I will do what is best.

The longer you have to wait, the more you must rely on your TRUST in Me.

If you start to feel anxious, seek My help with short prayers such as:

"Jesus, fill me with Your Peace."

You may breathe these brief prayers as often as needed.

As you put your HOPE in Me, My unfailing Love rests peacefully upon you.

From " Jesus Lives " by Sarah Young

Stay Strong! 

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." ROMANS 8:26–27

"But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me."
MICAH 7:7

"We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you." PSALM 33:20–22