View from the Other Side

Hope-- (def) to believe, desire, or trust; a person or thing in which expectations are centered; to look forward to with confident expectation

'I have a new hope that blows away the small hopes I knew before
And at the end of the day, I am Yours. And I am compelled..."
S. Groves

I love to sing a song that speaks so much to my heart and resonates a chord deep within me because I have waded through its truth and have come out on the other side knowing it within both my head and my heart. In other words, I GET it. Or perhaps, it GOT me. Sometimes when I get through the end of a long day and put my head on my pillow for the night, all I have to cling to is the fact that I am Christ's. All of the things I don't understand or even yet fully recognize, all of the intermittent feelings of walking alone in this world, all of the questions and uncertainties of what exactly I need to be doing and being....I need help sorting them all out. But there is an act of wading through the promises of who I am in the eyes of Christ and recognizing more fully what hope is contained within those promises. They have been declared in Scripture. And, you can't somehow wipe away that position of 'belonging' with the stroke of a pen or the declaration of a judge. So, this hope that is found in who I am in Christ and what future is mine because of His grace to me is one that 'blows away' all of the small hopes that I get sidetracked with: hopes in people, circumstances, things, health, etc., etc. They don't last and they don't keep me confident. I have walked through a few months of feeling as though God were far from me, my prayers were empty, and I was joyless. I couldn't wish away the weight that ensues upon you when this all comes landing on your soul without much warning. And in those weeks, it was my head that kept telling me that Yes, God is here even though you don't feel His presence, and Yes, He does see your plight and understand fully what you are walking through. Even though I didn't have words to say to Him, I asked in the most simplistic way for His help because nothing else provided me comfort...not even my Dad (can you believe it?). This was my prayer many nights: "I don't understand God...and I don't know where You've gone, but I need Your help. Please get me through."

" You've written on my very soul where no man can legislate.
The law of your love has taken hold with your holiness and grace
There's no mistake.
I'm on the other side of something. I'm coming out the other side, the other side....."

Yep. There is a 'coming out' that takes place at just the time God has deemed it to happen. And that process of getting through that 'something' is not always an easy road, but the truth of Who God is and what He has promised to be to me and for me is imprinted much more deeply in my head and heart. Now, I find when I hear someone speak of God's faithfulness and His promise to continue a good work in His children, I can solidly say "Yeah. That's true. I've waded through that Truth and found that that is Who He is because He has been that to me in a big way.' I don't want to just know God in my head because I find He is so much more to me when He plants His truth deep down in my soul. I know that I haven't even touched upon knowing within my heart all Who God is... that will take place when the glass is gone and I'll behold Him face to face. In between now and then, I'm grateful He's not given up working on me and that He remains a faithful Father to me. When the circumstances of life throw you a curve ball, I can look back and remember His work in my life and bring that lesson into the ballfield of today and know that it still is true, despite the change in scenery. And how He is cultivating a spirit of gratitude in the heart of this ingrate!
Strange as it may sound, I think that birds are one of my favorite creatures. Quite simply, they are, to me, an object lesson from nature...and a reminder of Truth. Whether it is sunny or rainy outside, birds still have a song to sing. Circumstances around them don't squelch their songs. And, birds are mentioned specifically within Scripture as being known by God. Within the Gospel accounts, it is conveyed that not even one tiny bird, such as a sparrow, can fall to the ground without God knowing that it has happened on His Earth. He sees. He knows. He cares enough to pay attention to them whether flying or falling. A few weeks ago as I was mulling through various things as I rode my bike along the rail trail, I stopped to take a drink of water and turned to look at some trailside trees to try and spot a bird that was singing like crazy during the drizzly weather. No other bird answered him. He/she was the only one little bird-dude around. And in watching it sing for a few seconds, I was reminded that yes, even God sees this lone bird, and He knows when he flies and when He falls... and He sees you, Sarah. Every little minute detail of your life that you think does not matter to Him: He knows about it and He cares. Trust His plan, not your own, and don't worry! In a word : Hope--a confident expectation of things to come.

"I have a new hope that blows away the small hopes I knew before
And at the end of the day, I am Yours....."

Grateful to belong... grateful for a Hope that is sure.... grateful for a song I can sing despite the 'weather' around me.... grateful for the view on the other side.....

-- this post is compiled from a few thoughts rattling around
in Sarah's head as of late