@bethvogt
I’ve backed away from this blog post numerous times.
I’ve rethought the topic, but the theme continues to sit there and stare at me without blinking.
Life is hard.
Yes, I’m the same woman who just blogged about wearing Life is Good T-shirts as a reminder to look for the good in life.
But sometimes circumstances weigh us down. Maybe we’re facing something unexpected. Something daunting. Or maybe someone we love, a family member or friend, is struggling.
We confront incomprehensible tragedies blaring across the national news every single day.
In my little corner of the world? My heart has been burdened for family members and friends facing challenges and heartaches. Unexpected medical diagnoses. Financial struggles. Betrayals. Yes, even tragic deaths.
I’ve gotten to the point I want to resort to the childish behavior of sticking my fingers in my ears and singing, “La la la la la … I can’t hear you!”
I just can’t anymore with bad news.
Today as I mulled over this blog post I kept shifting my shoulders – literally moving my shoulders back and forth – trying to bear up under the emotional weight of all the different things I’ve heard about. Things I’m praying about.
No amount of adjusting my shoulders lifted the burden in my heart.
Life is hard.
Sometimes circumstances fray our hope, turning it into a fragile thing to hold on to.
The question becomes: What are we hoping for?
Am I merely hoping for a good life for me, for my family, for my friends?
Or am I hoping to see God’s provision in the midst of all of life’s circumstances? Am I trusting that yes, He will bring something good out of this very bad situation I find myself in? Or the situation my friend is facing?
The hope I hold onto is not a close-my-eyes-and-ignore-what’s-going-on kind of hope.
No.
This is the kind of hope that helps me face the reality of life with my eyes wide open. This grace-filled hope bears up under the full weight of whatever is burdening my heart.
Life is hard … and there is a real God who offers us hope that helps us get through the hard, hard days.
I don’t know if you needed to hear this or not … but I know I did.
Life is Hard ... and There is Still Reason to Hope #faith #grace Click To Tweet 'Each day we hold things in our heart, sometimes these things are heavy. Carrying God's grace with us each and every day lightens life's load.' #quote by actor Ron Baratono #hope #grace Click To Tweet
***
Don’t forget to enter to win not one, but four of my books, including my upcoming Christmas novella, Unpacking Christmas. Three other winners will win a copy of Unpacking Christmas. Click on the graphic below to enter or go here.
Comments 17
God healed me of a fever vile,
harbinger of lethality,
and set me back on my Green Mile,
the cancer-road to Calvary.
And how, now, is there something good,
to be made to face the flame?
What must here be understood
of His Glory, of His Name?
The answer comes, surprising;
I must each day begin
to set fresh hope arising,
and find that hope within,
a yearning not for health and rest,
but that my heart won’t fail this test.
Trying to write this on a phone, I entered gibberish in ‘website’; if anyone is interested, my blog address is
https://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2021/09/of-frying-pans-and-fires.html
…and it has a couple of cute dog pictures!
Author
Thanks for sharing your website, Andrew.
Author
Good morning, my friend. I know your mornings always hold hard things to face … and yet, you face each new morning with faith that trust in God’s unfailing grace.
Praying for you. Always.
Hope is not the closing of our eyes to risk, difficulty or failure. It is the trust that if I fail now, I will not fail forever; that if I am hurt, I will be healed; that life is good and love is powerful and I shall find myself and others and God. Something I wrote when I was 15 yrs old. And still hold onto to it today!
Author
Lynn: You had a lot of wisdom at 15 years old. Thank you for sharing those words with us today.
Beth, I love you.
I, too, have been mulling over hope in the midst of sorrow and suffering and am reminded of God’s precious promise: The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18). I have felt his comforting nearness in the midst of pain. It’s human to long for relief of all that troubles and hurts us. He knows. I’m reminded that my hope isn’t in being delivered from the struggle at hand, but in the Deliverer. And that while there is an ultimate, forever peace to look forward to, the Psalmist wrote that my Deliverer is with me now, saving me now. There is Peace to be had in the midst of pain.
Praying his peace over you today, my friend. -Camille
I hope this brings encouragement to someone today:
https://camilleeide.wordpress.com/2021/02/15/jesus-is-near-the-brokenhearted/
Author
Thank you, Camille, for coming alongside us all today. I wish we could sit together and talk and pray. I’m so glad you shared your blog post with us. 🙂
Hope is so powerful! Thank you for that reminder.
Author
Sherrinda: Hope is so needed these days … and it is a renewable commodity, no matter how frayed it gets. Love you, friend!
Thank you, Beth. I love that question “What are we hoping for?” That’s the big picture questions that can reframe our perspective from hopeless to hopeful if we focus on the right target.
I needed your post today.
Thank you!
Author
Hi, Barb: I’m so glad you were encouraged and that the question, “What are we hoping for?” helped you. 🙂
You had me at “life is hard.” Then the backing away, but it kept staring you in the face. Sounds like me dealing with life when it’s hard.
Such beautiful wisdom in all you shared. And for each of us that you gathered in to be reminded of grace-powered, God-centered hope, thank you.
Author
Bernadette: Thank you, my friend. And your blog post today encouraged me.
Martina McBride song, and she was one of the writers:
“Anyway”
You can spend your whole life buildin’
Somethin’ from nothin’
One storm can come and blow it all away
Build it anyway
You can chase a dream
That seems so out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way
Dream it anyway
[chorus:]
God is great, but sometimes life ain’t good
When I pray it doesn’t always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway
This world’s gone crazy and it’s hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway
You can love someone with all your heart
For all the right reasons
And in a moment they can choose to walk away
love ’em anyway
[chorus]
You can pour your soul out singing
A song you believe in
That tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway
Yeah, sing it anyway
I sing, I dream, I love
Anyway
yeah
Author
Denise: Thank you for sharing that song. Such fantastic lyrics. Truth woven all the way through.
Life will be easier if we embrace God in our life. Nothing is impossible with the help of him🙏