When the clouds of disappointment are hanging low over your head, when you’ve had a bad day for as long as you can remember, when you’ve reached the end of your rope and there’s no hope in sight, remember this:

Change comes in a moment!

There have been many instances in your life when circumstances changed very quickly. Think about it.

  • You were jobless and then you were hired.
  • You were loveless, then in love.
  • You were in school, then the bell rang.
  • You were angry, then happy.
  • You were hungry, then full.
  • You were overwhelmed, then took the first step.
  • You were knocked down, then you got up.
  • You were alone, then found a friend.
  • You were exhausted and overcome in the dark, then slept and woke up in daylight.

You can easily add to this list from your own experience. Immoveable objects move. The Berlin Wall fell almost overnight.

But it gets even better than that.

Hope comes in a flash!

Circumstances don’t even have to change for things to vastly improve. Hope can show up unexpectedly and take you by surprise. All you have to do is change what you think, what you believe about yourself or your situation.

It’s like the first ray of dawn after a long, hopeless night.

Like the change that happened in Lisa Allen’s life. She went from years of disaster to better in one taxi ride in the desert. The change took longer than that but the hope didn’t!

Hope is one step away

There is no college course you have to take. There is no long drawn out process. There are no barriers to hope. Nothing has to happen first. There are no prerequisites. You do not need job experience. There is no test to pass. There is no down payment to save.

Hope is no mountain you have to climb.

That’s because:

Hope is internal

This means no one can stop it. It means no one can take it away. It means no one can put it out.

You own it. As long as you are you, you can have hope. In the deepest recesses of your soul, the part of you no one knows but you and God, the real, intimate, private you – that is where hope resides.

People have found hope in the worst situations ever encountered by man. People have found hope in utterly hopeless situations. Because is wasn’t in the situation; it was inside of them.

So, Hang On

Yesterday was a bumpy day for me. Lots of ups and downs. Lots of frustration. Lots of traffic. Lots of emotions. Lots of failure on my part. You know the kind of day.

Today I woke up, took Nessie for her morning walk and stepped out into one of the most beautiful sunrises I’ve ever seen. The sky was a vast sheet of pink, purple and blue. The color was at its peak. A warm wind blew into my face. Birds sang. The grass was greening. The spring leaves were sprouting. The world, in all of its glory, turned eastward and smiled as the sun came over the mountain.

It took no time. I didn’t have to read a book. I took no course. I received no phone call or word of encouragement. I didn’t even pray.

All I did was open my eyes and see the beauty and complexity of a world that turned without me as I slept. A world where God is in control.

A world full of life. And spring.

And hope.

 

Photo: Easter Sunrise by anoldent via Flickr