HOPE STILL FLOAT'S.

" But those who hope in THE LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; They will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31

A few months after my father had died suddenly in 2014 and I had been consequently diagnosed with a devastating illness and in the depths of all consuming grief, I found myself on my back deck one night having called my aunt, my father's sister seeking any kind of connection to him, to ease the pain and fear I was feeling. I wanted to be close to my daddy again. I remember asking my aunt to remind me of one of my father's sayings, something that I could hold onto because in that moment, consumed by pain, fear and confusion, my mind was drawing a blank. I remember my aunt becoming silent momentarily and then gently saying " Your dad always use to say Hope Floats Cilla."... I could not know in the moment she spoke that to me, how those two words would impact me. How those two words became the fuel I needed to survive the next decade and how God used those two words to lead me back to His outstretched and waiting arms.

2014 marked the year I entered a tempest of biblical proportions. I have spoken about the details of that tempest in previous posts, so I won't go over those details again here, but It all leads to God, to my relationship with Christ, to redemption and salvation. How, in the detail of those two words, He, was right there. He's always been right there.

There have been many times over the course of my life, where I could have given up hope. but I never have. This is even more so true, now as I'm walking with The Lord, When Jesus enters the equation, everything changes. The trials, the pain I have faced, were made bearable only by the presence of Christ in my life. In the absence of the Holy Spirit, this world and what it has to offer, is emptiness. A world that does not acknowledge or revere its creator is world void of its very life force and yet so many inhabit this earth, full to the brim of designer clothes, fast cars and big houses but neglect the very house of the Lord, and the spirit man that is housed within the walls of that temple. Inevitably, this emptiness found in the things of this world, always leads to hopelessness... it may fulfill you for a while, but in the quiet moments, on the nights you struggle to sleep, the moments when the silence is deafening, that's when you come face to face with the emptiness "things" brings.

I want you for a moment to visualize in your mind, those two words " Hope Floats' then ponder the imagery that comes up. Two images come to mind for me: I see those two words as buoy, floating in the ocean, a tangible object that visually represents safety, indicates the presence of life and will surely bring you rest, but I also see those two words as an hourglass, slowly releasing its sand, its measure of time seemingly running out, but is in actuality, only an illusion. Because by simply turning that hourglass up the other way, time starts again. Those two words became that for me over the last 12 years. My father's words, in which I found my FATHER's hope. God, who I anchor my hope in. The proudest moment of my life, outside of the birth of my daughter, was my moment of true surrender to God who gave me hope, because that's the promise: A hope and a future. (Jerimiah 29:11)

The scripture that i keep hearing in my spirit as I write this is " I would have lost heart, unless I had believed I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. (Psalm 27 :13). This is particularly true for me, and I have tasted the Lords' goodness, over and over again. God is gracious, and hoping in His goodness will never lead you astray, The beauty of the psalms. takes us through the valleys, and the hopelessness of Davids lamenting, to his hope realized as he walked into the fullness of what he was called to do. As I have made my way through the word of God, I have found myself spending significant time in the Book of Psalms. Davids's journey is relatable and inspiring. It inspires hope because it so beautifully reveals the father's heart for his children in the same way the Gospels and Jesus' journey, his incarnation into flesh, demonstrates the fathers heart. Heart and Hope. His heart is our Hope. Without hope, there is no faith. Without faith, there is no surrender and without surrender, there is no obedience to the will of God.

My journey will look different to yours, but hope is the one thing we all have in common. We have used our free will to choose the will of God in our lives. The moment you make that choice, and it is a choice, you choose to hope in the future that God promises in Jeremiah 29:11. Be mindful, the enemy will do everything he can to strip you of that hope and leave you in a place of hope deferred. God speaks of this also in Proverbs 13:12 but goes on to say, "but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." God is the same from the beginning to the end. There is comfort and peace in that understanding.

What I can say is this, despite our human shortcomings, despite the range of emotion we can feel on any given day, remaining steadfast in the hope of The Lord, will leave you strengthened and satisfied in a way that this world will never be able to fulfil. There are many things of God that will remain a mystery, as it should be, but placing your hope in the goodness of God and His limitless nature, in the perfection of Christ and the understanding that all things are only accomplished through the Holy Spirit, is not one of them but I would argue the purest forms of worship you can engage in. Your heart and your hope are what God wants. Give Him that and watch him move mountains.

Those two words of my father's, spoken by my aunt, was revealing my Father's heart for me and would be the very thing that led me back to the God of all creation, who has consequently fulfilled my hope over and over again through the healing of my physical body, my spirit and heart. I sought my aunts counsel to feel close to my father again, turns out, that's exactly what happened.

Hope still floats and is and will always be found in the name of Jesus.

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