|
|
HOPE NEEDED
Hope is the one thing the world needs. Life with hope is like an illness with medicine. Whether the medicine has the power to cure or only the ability to dull the symptoms, it makes all the difference in the world in how you cope with the illness.
Everyday I run into women who need a shot of HOPE. They are at the edge: the edge of losing hope. They feel they are losing the battle in their lives. The battle is different for everyone of them. For some it is a personal battle within. For others they struggle to fight the battles of another. Some spend months, years or even a decade or more wishing for a victory, only to see no solution. So, they stand on the edge fearing the worst. They fear that there is no freedom, no solution, no hope.
HOPE LOST
Privately, I was that woman longing for a shot of HOPE. For years I struggled to help my husband with his personal battles. I so desperately wanted him to experience victory in his life and ultimately for us to have victory in our marriage. I had vowed till death do we part and I meant it. But, the longer the struggle ensued, the more I felt as if the “death” would be mine. My hope in “life” was seeping away and I felt as if I was at the edge.
The privacy of my struggle served only to increase the distance between me and anyone that could help. My refusal to reach out to another with my pain, did nothing more than to make me feel like I was on an island. I was close to no one and could never imagine how I could find help. I was isolated.
Eventually, the battle for our marriage ended in defeat. And when the dust settled, all anyone could see was that another person had become hopeless.
"I lift up my eyes to the hills – Where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1, 2
|
|