Where's the hope?

I thought of this yesterday as I sat in my little cubicle at work and listened to another co-worker express her fear over being laid off.

A little back-story for those of you whom I may not have shared:we have been told at my place of employment that we will more than likely not have jobs by the end of next July.

ME.... a year ago, would have been FREAKING OUT!

ME....TODAY, I am not worried at all.

Life circumstances has made this co-worker an extremely volatile person. Her emotional and mental stability is often hanging on by a thread. We have had so many discussions about life and God and positive attitude and she just cannot seem to get the picture. She cannot stand on her tippy-toes and see what awaits her outside of the trench she lives in.

It reminded me of a scripture. While this scripture is specifically talking about death, it made me realize that the principle Christ was trying to teach applies to all aspects of life.
In I Thess. 4:13 it says "...so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope."
As I sat there listening to her cry I realized this is what life looks like with no hope and I looked this exact way a year ago.


The difference

I had the hope inside of me but did not act like it.

Life has been crazy. There have been some roller coaster hills in my life that I would challenge the biggest baddest thrill-seeker in the world to take on.

[sorry my english teacher friend, I know I am not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition but I couldnt figure out how to make it sound right]


A year ago, I sat in a phsychologist's office hashing out all the wrongs in my life, all the people who had wronged me, all the people I felt as though I had wronged, and feeling like the only function I had left was breathing in and breathing out.
This dear Christian woman listened to me cry and blubber and she completely understood how I felt. [I know...it is her job]
She connected me to someone in my church who had gone through and was going through some of the same things I was experiencing. Together, they built up a wall around me to support me, guide me and teach me how to be a Christian wife, mother, sister, daughter, and friend.
I have not conquered this problem. I had a small melt-down over life just the other day. BUT the meltdowns are not every hour or even everyday... sometimes i can go weeks without having a good "cry-fest".

The difference

I now understand the hope that I have

I realized in all my blubbering and complaining I was doing,I was only showing non-believers that Christ offered nothing more than what they already had.

If I was not strong with Christ,how can Christ help them?

I do have hope.
I have hope that one day I will see my Lord's face.
I have hope that one day I will see my sister who passed away 23 years ago.
I have hope that one day my husband and I will be healed and put into perfect bodies.
I have hope that God's will is being done as I pound out this blog.
I have hope that God will answer my prayers.

Sometimes we really do need to write down the things we can have hope in before we are so hopeless we become helpless.