HOPE

It has been some time since my last blog entry.  Often in the past three months God has placed things on my heart I could have shared, but for some reason processing them to the blog never happened.  This evening, as I have been trying to sort through all that is happening in the world, I found myself asking, "What can I do?"  Here I am, trying to be socially responsible by staying home, and there is a whole world out there looking for hope in the midst of chaos.  Listening for God's still, small voice I heard, "What is something you have done for Me in the past?" and "What have I given you the ability to do?"

And so here I am, at the computer attempting to offer some words of hope to anyone who might happen across my blog.  Earlier today I found myself focused on the word "hope" and what it might mean.  According to an online dictionary, the first definition of hope is, "a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen."  For most of us, our desire is for things to get back to "normal", whatever that might be.

It is, however, the second definition which captured my attention tonight.  "A feeling of trust."  As a believer in God, and follower of Jesus Christ, I feel it is part of my assignment to offer this feeling of trust to anyone in need of finding it.  This corona virus did not catch God off guard, and He is still on His throne, waiting for His chance to work all things together for good for those who love Him.  We find those words in Romans 8:28.

Many times we find acronyms for words we use which expand on the meaning.  Searching for what others have used in the past, I came across several I found appropriate for our current state of affairs:

Hold Onto Prayer Everyday

Hold On Peace Exists

Helping Other People Everyday

"What would YOU use for an acronym?" came the still, small voice.  Hmmm. . .H.O.P. seemed to resonate "Hold On People!" in my brain.  But what about the E.?  It was then I remembered a list of the names of God I had printed out some time ago for reference.  There were quite an assortment which began with the letter E:

El Elyon - The Most High God

El Shaddai - The Lord God Almighty, All Sufficient One

El Roi - The Strong One Who Sees

Elohim - The All Powerful One

El Olam - Everlasting

What great reasons to maintain hope in the midst of uncertainty!  Our God is most high, all sufficient, strong, powerful and everlasting.  We can never go wrong with Him on our side.  And, thankfully, He has promised in His Word He will never leave us. If you do a Google search for Bible verses about God never leaving us, you will find there are many reassurances of the fact throughout the Bible.  Here is one good list of 100 verses for you:

100 Verses On God Never Leaving Us

That's news enough to allow me to sleep in peace tonight.  May you, too, my friends!