the God of hope

Wednesday, April 23, 2014 (6:47 a.m.)

Holy God,

Thank You. Thank You that You are our hope.

(7:19 a.m.)

Yes! And there are Bible verses to back that up!

Psalm 62:5, “I wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him.”

Lamentations 3:22-24, “The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By His mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my inheritance; therefore I will hope in Him!'”

Romans 15:13, “So I [Paul] pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in Him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Mm. Yes. Unfailing love. Mercies that begin afresh every day. Hope that overflows. Power of the Holy Spirit. These are things we can't control. Nor contain.

Hope in the Lord. I heard it sung again on Sunday. Twice. ♫Jesus Messiah, name above all names Blessed Redeemer, Emmanuel... All our hope is in You... The Lord of all♫

(8:46 a.m.)

And all this time later I've spent researching the origin of that other song I heard and cried to this past Easter Sunday. ♫Hallelujah♫ by Leonard Cohen. I knew it as ♫Broken Hallelujah♫ performed by the Wounded Warriors Band.

Blessed Father God, if that isn't reason to hope I don't know what is. Too often I get lost in my own circumstances. Then comes a song that reminds me of ALL You offer us. You send reminders of Your mercy. Your grace. The hope we have in You.

Thank You God. Thank You for the many ways we are called to remember that You truly are the God of our every hope. Teach. Empower. Enable me to hope as You would have me hope. In You!

I want to praise You regardless of circumstances.

Taking lyrics from an entirely different song entitled Broken Hallelujah sung by The Afters, it reminds us of the importance of always singing Hallelujah. Whether we can barely stand, if all comes crashing down, when we wonder where You are; when we ♫try to find the words to pray♫ and don't know what to say, You hear our hearts. We don't know Your plan, but still believe ♫You're making beauty from these ashes♫ Even when we're on our knees in pain we can call Your name with a broken hallelujah.

Keep reminding me Father. As I care and hurt for others, prompt me to continue praising You as our one and only God of hope. Thank You that You are! I love You. Use me this day exactly as You wish. Hallelujah! Amen.

(450 words ~ 9:13 a.m.)