By: Ginger Hughes
It’s true that life is beautiful and full of joy.
There are newly promised vows and 50th wedding anniversaries. There are babies being born and seniors graduating college. There are fabulous places to travel, backyard barbeques with friends, and Friday night football. There are new job offers and big promotions. There is laughter, excitement, and anticipation.
However, we all know life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It can bring tremendous heartache and disappointment as well. There are hopes which never come to fruition and dreams that go unrealized. There is brokenness and discouragement. There is sadness and despair.
So what do we do with those feelings? How do we respond when the answer we hoped would be “yes” is “no” instead? How do we respond when the hope we clung to seems crushed? How do we respond when our spirit is downcast within us?
We can cry out in frustration or anger, which certainly seems warranted at times.
We can allow feelings of unworthiness or failure to overwhelm us.
We can withdraw from friends and loved ones, seeking solace in all the wrong places.
We can allow defeatism to settle in our souls.
Or… we can trust.
Psalm 42:5 says, “Why, my soul are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”
God is not surprised by our circumstances, and God is in control regardless of our situations. Romans 8:28 assures that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
This certainly does not mean that all things are good or that trials or hardships won’t come. We can rest assured they will. But with God, the trial is never the last word. With God, failure is never the bottom line. With God, there is always hope, and there is always a reason to praise Him.
Because of Jesus, the end of our story will never be defeat or brokenness or sorrow. Thanks be to God, the end of our story will always be victory.
And this, friends, is the reason for our hope.
-Ginger Hughes is the wife of a pastor, a mother of two and an accountant. She is a Georgia native currently living in the foothills of North Carolina. Her passion for writing is fueled by the desire to offer encouragement, grace and a deeper understanding that we are all God’s children. Her blogging for Nurturing Faith is sponsored by a gift from First Baptist Church of Gainesville, Ga. Additional writings may be found at nomamasperfect.com.
