Psalm 25:4-5
Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.===
God's presence is with us all day long, so that we can hope like this. Everywhere we go, whatever our circumstance... God's presence is there. And in the midst of feeling discouraged again by the lack of rest and joy in anything I was doing or having, I realized I didn't want God's presence in these moments. Where was I when the things I deeply wanted simply couldn't be? God exists in these moments of sadness and suffering, and it is only in God's presence that I can find comfort and rest.
Yet for some reason I didn't want God. He had been the cause of all of this. He had allowed misery. Yet I never saw Him past the problems. God is also the One who brings us relief from all of this. There is hope that this suffering is not the end, and there is always something better. Somehow all of this is linked to something greater, but I am too blind to see. And this is hope, there is joy in trying to see God's presence. Wherever I am and whatever obstacles are in the way, God is there. I definitely have not fully solved this conundrum or anything, but to become eager and hopeful when we are sad is definitely something worth mentioning.
As I recount more of what this means the past few months specifically, I just want to thank you for having hope for me even when I lacked it. For trusting God even when I struggled. And for continually being part of something greater, God's kingdom, when I felt like I failed to. Thanks for your support and for sharing the Gospel with me every time we meet!
http://saharatea.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/oasis-desert.jpg
Amidst rocky, uneven terrain
Dead by toil, Dead by fear
Life sprang out of the heavens and called my name
Lo! Rise once more
You are alive today!
