Hope

 

I was going to base the weeks post on a different subject. I attended a funeral service for our neighbor this week and feel it is important to address what was felt during that experience. I had shared several weeks ago that I became very close to him in a very short period of time. There are some very important underlying things that I now see that were hinted at but not addresses in his life. He was intensely seeking to know and understand God, Christ and what that meant for him. The problem with that was that he never became still enough to allow the Holy Spirit and Christ to be realized as working in his life. There were many questions and many answers given that were not given the time needed to be seen or felt in his life. Hope is not often answered instantaneously in a way that will be recognized when we are struggling to see answers. (Psalm 46:10  Be still, & know) Being still is what is needed. If we are too wrapped up in the search we run the risk of missing what is right in front of us. My favorite place in all of the scriptures on how to listen to the Lord is in 1 Kings 19:9-13. Elijah had learned that rushing here and there was not the way to know if God was with him or speaking to him. He took for granted that God was there with the care God's angels were providing him when he was fleeing from Jezebel (1 Kings 19:1-8). It was in almost imperceptible quiet that God was present and speaking to him. Not being quiet in the midst of the turmoil of life will cause us to feel that all hope is lost when in fact it is not lost. Elijah felt lost and hopeless until he stopped and became still. Hope is often missed because we want answers now. I am not saying they will not happen immediately but we must be still more often than not to get the answers we seek. That in itself may be for some time or a very short time. My friend was also seeking solace with things to fill voids in his life. That was another distraction rather than being quiet. I went over to his cremation urn and stood quietly before it. I could feel his sorrow and grief. I also know that he now knows the Jesus he so desperately sought was there all the time. I have a cross that I never had the chance to give him. On it is Be still, & know --- Psalm 46:10. My heart is heavy but I also know he is now safe, trouble free and loved.

I have decided to wait and post images next week. Thank you for your visit. Please leave a comment if you can. May the good Lord bless and keep you safe. Until next week remember to "Always Love The Details."