bright, bright sunshiny days

Getting ready to go. Cleaning up. Packing up. Revving up. Looking forward to the days, weeks and months to come. The sense of anticipation toward the future is nothing to be taken lightly. We need a sense of expectation. We crave the excitement of a new day and all it holds. We must have hope! We need vision!

There are times though when I am on the other side of hope. When I cannot fathom putting one foot in front of the other--when I've done all I know to do, when my heart is weary and when hope feels like the last drops of water going down the drain. It's a miserable place to be. That's when there's little chance of "pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps," when we need outside encouragement from someone who understands our pain and weariness. It's when we need Jesus to remind us that despite the trouble of the moment--despite treading water in the lake of sheer misery--whether the Lord chooses to relieve us from our storm or to take us through it, we will never be left alone to weather it for ourselves!

^{2 Cor 4:7-8} We have this treasure from God, but we are like clay jars that hold the treasure. This shows that the great power is from God, not from us.⁸ We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We do not know what to do, but we do not give up the hope of living...

^5:16-18 So we do not give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day.¹⁷ We have small troubles for a while now, but they are helping us gain an eternal glory that is much greater than the troubles.¹⁸ We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever.

There is a better day coming. We can look ahead to better times. We are not mistaken or putting our dreams and hopes into something futile. We are trusting very God! Our Father. The one who loves us more than we love our own children--the one who IS love.

We must lift up our heads and look beyond what's in our faces saying, "There's no hope!" Look ahead to days filled with expectancy of the Lord doing a new thing in us, for us--through us. In the Lord, life is good!

Father, Thank you for a new sense of urgency and expectancy in life, in You! I'm so glad to look forward to what's planned for the coming days, should you tarry. Help us to look to you for encouragement. There's no end of hope with you. I love you so much.

Suz