Hope is Alive!

Today is a brand new day, yet when our hearts are hurting nothing seems to feel right. The thrill of unwrapping the gifts of a new day isn’t there, and our hearts seem to fill with only loneliness and pain. We are left wondering when we will get our enthusiasm back for life. When will our joy return? When will we be filled with a song in our heart?

Grief is a hard word to say, and it is even more difficult to understand. When grief knocks on the door of our heart we know it is there because we can feel the raw pain that so suddenly overtook us. However, grief leaves us very slowly and we often don’t realize that our unwelcome guest is inching its way out of the door of our heart until is has been replaced by the wonderful blessing of hope.

Every time we look at a butterfly or the colors of a rainbow, we take one step closer to hope. Each time we feel the warmth of the sunshine upon our face, we grow closer to recognizing the miracle of a brand new day. For every flower that we see bloom, we push aside one sad thought and allow space for a bright, new thought of hope to visit our heart.

Grief is a difficult journey, but we have not been left alone. God has placed his signature of hope in the morning sky, in the twinkling of the evening stars, and in every soft whisper of the wind He has given us the assurance of His love by showing us all of His creation. He is our Shepherd, and we are His sheep. His tender care will carry us through every dark valley into the green pastures where we will find rest and replenishment.

Hope is alive, and every day we are receiving the gift of hope. One day we will wake up with a song on our heart and we will know for sure that hope has arrived! --Clara Hinton

“When I look to the heavens my heart remembers that God is a mighty God, and He loves me forever.” --Clara Hinton

“I have written your name on my hand.” --Isaiah 49:16