This month we have dedicated to talking about life and death. We talk a lot about life so this month will be more about death…not because I’m morbid but for my own losses. It is a good chance for me to process and hopefully it will benefit some of you at the same time.
This month, 2019, has included the loss of 3 people that I know fairly well. They are all various ages, various ways of passing and varied in closeness. None of it is easy.
My last blog was about death changing us and HOW death changes us. It is inevitable… it will change us. I would encourage you to read that blog if you have not to sort of ‘catch up’ to where we are now.
So continuing on…
One of the characteristics I crave – Hope. If I lose hope, I lose all. Hope must be the thing that is held onto in order to take me to a new place. Hope is the anchor to keep from getting lost. Hope is my lifeline. If I lose hope, I become lost.
Without hope, thoughts of despair and loss will begin to lead me into dark places where I see only lack and depression. It is a subtle, quiet process by which any ideas of living well or good will be dismissed. Having anything good to greet me when I awake will be far from me…all because I released my one weapon, my hope.
Hope is key in the processing and moving forward. The question then becomes, ‘how will I gain hope if I am already missing it?’ and ‘how do I hold onto it when it feels as oil slipping through my fingers?' There is hope to be found and hope with handles….
Hope that isn’t slippery or weak.
Hope has to be connected to something or it is just concocted hope, artificial. King David said: Hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows. (Ps. 130:7) The connection here is the Lord’s unfailing love. Hope is connected to His unfailing love. If we don’t believe He loves, we cannot expect that our hope will carry fruit within it. But when we see, feel, and experience His love… His love that is truly, fully, honestly unconditional..., we can hold onto hope that more good life lies within and ahead for us – BECAUSE He loves.
If He loves apart from circumstances and incidents and loss and people’s choices, we can know He has more for us…more to lead us into, more for us to press towards. The promise: He has a hope and a future planned for us. This is because He loves, and this is where we gain hope. If we are not hopeful, we have forgotten His love. Connect to this…sit with Him and let His love wash over you.
Grab ahold of hope and refuse to let it go. Let hope be your constant. And hold onto the connection of Love so you can move forward into the promises that yet lie ahead for you.
You have a new normal now, so what’s left for you?
Hope --hope that is intimately tied to love.