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Saturday, February 25, 2017

My Hope Is In The Lord

"My hope is in the Lord, I belong to Him. He will never let me go. My hope is in the Lord. I can count on Him. My hope is in the Lord."

      Teaching preschool gives me constant access to awesome songs to help remember the things of God. The one I shared above is simple but when you dig deeper, is very profound. Let me explain....

      The beginning of February started out rough and I had to learn how to rest in the Lord and put my hope in Him. It's difficult to do that when you are used to doing everything for everyone and being strong in the midst of it all. I don't have time to be weary...or at least to let my weariness show.
 
       February 1st, our youngest son ended up in Children's Hospital with RSV and viral bronchiolitis. He was there for 2 days. That was one of the scariest and most traumatic times of my life. To see my sweet baby hooked to monitors and oxygen and not knowing what was going to happen, really took a toll on me. The second night in the hospital, while wondering what I did to cause all of this to happen to my sweet boy, my friend told me that I needed to just rest in the Lord and let Him work. I didn't know exactly how to do that but I knew it didn't include me blaming myself and going crazy trying to answer all of my own questions. I just tried to be still.



       Through the winter I have really learned how to tune in and hear God's voice. I have grown in so many different ways. And all these ways allowed me to be O.K. when God stopped talking directly to me. Our stay in the hospital started a 17 day season of my life where hard things happened but God was quiet. I am a social person. I meet a friend for coffee or have a long and spiritually profound phone call with someone almost once a week. I thrive on these things. Even just going to work 16 hours a week, fills me up! During this quiet time, not once did I spend time with a friend AND I was only able to work 3 of the 17 days! It was SO odd! I didn't realize what God was doing at the time but I do now!  He was wanting me to seek Him for fulfillment. Not putting so much stock in people or situations. He had to let me see that He is the one who is in control, not me. He wanted me to put my hope in Him.  Now, God didn't make my baby get sick but, like he says in His word: He made all things work together for good(Romans 8:28)

      What does it mean to "put your hope in God"? I didn't know so, like the rest of the world, I googled it! I searched the definition of "hope".

NOUN

  1. a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen:
    "he looked through her belongings in the hope of coming across some information" ·
    "I had high hopes of making the Olympic team"
    synonyms: aspiration · desire · wish · expectation · ambition · aim · goal · plan ·
  2. archaic
    a feeling of trust


      What I gathered was that putting my hope in the Lord means to expect Him to do what He says He is going to do (according to His word) and trusting Him to do it! It's a very simple principle of getting in the Bible and learning all about God's promises. He loves when we pray His Word back to Him. Yes, he knows what it says, but it blesses Him to hear us asking for and activating His promises with our words. "Life and death lie in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21) That is pretty big stuff.


      Now, you might be wondering why I shared that my season was 17 days long. Many times, in spiritual lessons, numbers are very significant. At the end of this time God gave me a revelation. We recently entered the year of 2017 and in January, our pastor taught on what the number 17 meant. It symbolizes overcoming the enemy and complete victory. The Lord revealed to me that during my quiet time, He equipped me to overcome the enemy and have complete victory! Not only now, but in the coming seasons!

    I have to tell you, this quiet time was hard but as I mentioned before: God taught me how to get through it! Normally, if God weren't speaking I would worry that I did something wrong and that He was punishing me by being silent. I know it sounds silly but that is really how my brain used to work! The whole purpose of this blog is to encourage someone with my journey and share how I've grown and changed in my spiritual life. I share this to tell you....Won't God do it?! He has been so faithful! My prayer last year was that He renew my mind and though there have been many other instances, this one is significant! What normally would have derailed me, changed my life for the better! I would never have expected to pass the test and handle this the way I did but God equipped me! He changed me, molded me into His image and is continuing to do so! God did one of the greatest works in me, while He was being quiet! That goes to show, God has many ways of ministering to us. We just have to be open to receive.



In Christ,
       Kennedy

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=hope+definition&*

http://lamarboschman.com/the-biblical-meaning-of-2017/