Sometimes it looks like things have come to an end. Sometimes all I see is a failure, an impossibility. What I had prayed for and worked toward appears to have been cut off. I abandon hope and go sit on the side of discouragement. When hope no longer looks like a sensible thing, I may choose despair instead and declare the doom.
What is the earthly criterion for finality? Is there a universal sign? No, because I have a great God, my heart need never sink, even when I see exactly zero possibilities. Only He knows the divine work He is doing in my life. Only He sees the subtle beginnings, the tender life budding in the soft loam under a rotting stump. My thoughts and hope must rest in the mystery of His greatness.
James 1:6-8 says that if I don’t trust God’s ways and His answers, I am lacking faith. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. When I feel swayed by this mortal world and I allow the ordinary to rattle my soul, it is God’s divine and perfect word that aligns me with my Father’s sovereign majesty. Let me remember, declare, rest and hope…For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:24-25
For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. Luke 21:15
Meeting God at the Park 