Do you remember the little train trying to climb the steep hill? All the way up he said, "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can." Once he had made it to the top, this was no longer a wishful thought, he knew. He had the hope that the next time he would make it, once again, up that hill.

The writer of Hebrews describes this very idea.

Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (NASB)

Like the hope I have that when the storm front passes I will have some relief from my pain, I have hope that God is working in each of our lives. It is not just a wish; this working of God is a reality. We may not get to know what that work will look like, but we can have faith in that hope because of the many ways that God's loving work has already been revealed in our lives. Perhaps it is money to meet a need arriving at just the right moment; or, perhaps it is in time spent with a friend, filled with gleeful laughter; or, even during one of those rainy days, perhaps it is the peace the gentle sound of the rain can pour into an otherwise anxious heart.

Many times acquaintances will comment that I seem to be holding up so well under what seems to be a catastrophic turn of events, that I always have a smile for them. Perhaps it is because "who I am" is not dependent on what my body is doing at that moment. Who I am is because of who I am in God. I am God's child and I am loved with a love greater than that of any parent. Moreover, as my Parent, God has my best interests at heart. Herein is my hope. Because of this hope, I can have faith for the future. My faith, how I choose to live this life each day, is the evidence of where my hope lies.

Prayer: O God of hope, fill each one of us with all joy and peace in believing, so that we will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. (Romans 15:13 NASB paraphrased)

There is a lilac that grows in my yard. Each year it has bloomed beautifully. This last year, though, something happened. In the middle of summer, a time that has been its peak, it turned brown and died. All these months we have looked at it and thought, throw it out; it looks dead. A gardener friend said it wasn't time yet. He pruned it back during the dark winter saying, "Let's wait and see."

It reminds me of a certain young lady who has appeared to have everything going for her. She had been in some trouble in the past but to all appearances had come out of it and was blossoming beautifully. She has two beautiful children and a husband who loves her dearly. This last year though, something happened. She began to do things that risked the love of her husband and the safety of her children. Because of the things in the past several people told him to throw her out; let things fall where they will; hope is dead. Her husband said, "It isn't time yet." He has "pruned her back" and encouraged her to return to the truths she grew up with as a child, and said, "Let's wait and see."

Spring has come to northern California; the lilac is budding.

Our culture has many "throw away" children who then become "throw away" parents. In our "fast-food" society we have become no longer willing to invest time and emotion into what looks like a hopeless case. And yet, as with the lilac, a small investment can prevent loss. Jesus sent his disciples to preach the good news and to heal the sick. One way we can heal the sick is to take the time to be part of the pruning process and be patient enough to wait and see.

Prayer: Lord God, we put our faith in Your Word that does not return void. Like the lilac, we trust that those who are being pruned and then fertilized with the truth of Your love will once again bud forth. Like the vineyard keeper, show us ways that a simple word or action on our part can make the difference. Nudge us to be willing so others may not be lost. Thank you for the visual applications of Your truths you give us in our daily lives. Amen.

During a time in my life when I was in a whirlwind of emotional pain and confusion, and wanting so much to do whatever it took to find release and direction, a friend came alongside me and kept pouring truth from God's Word into me. She encouraged me to spend time getting to know God more, and learning about the benefits of spending time in God's Word. As I meditated on the verses I have listed at the end of this devotional, healing slowly came.

I wish I could tell you it was a quick trip out of despair. It was not. But it has been steady progress. And the more I was faithful to learn more of Him and lean more on what I was learning to be true about Him, the easier it has become to run to Him when the darkness of despair feels like an entrapping net.

At first it seemed overwhelming, but I found this to be true: as I began to trust what He was doing [and it seemed at times He didn't know what He was doing], the healing began. Now, little by little, as things come up in my daily life, He shows me how they contribute now, or have contributed in the past, to the overall chaos. He has begun to gently show me the things I have believed about Himself, myself or other people that are lies and is replacing those with the truth from the Word. Then, as I have begun to stand stronger on those truths, He has begun the next leg of the journey.

When I was still in the waiting place to start, and it seemed all of life was like a tornado whirling me around out of control, I would not have believed that one day I would say, "As hard as it has been, I would not trade it, if trading it meant giving up the relationship I now have with God."

Prayer: Lord, as we think, and Your Spirit reveals those places where the enemy has given us lies, called us names, like "hopeless", "desperate", "unworthy" – names that we see as having more power to carve, to wound, than the name of Jesus has to heal – You are offering choices. I pray we would have open eyes to see clearly the choice before us. Lord, touch our hearts to desire to heed the name of Jesus higher and higher. Trauma, conflicts, events, wouldn't be able to drive a wedge, to cause us to choose a solution other than leaning into You with all of our hearts. Lord, we bring to You our disappointments. Minister to us in those areas of "if only", or "I wish that", or "how come?" that our heart could receive Your love, Your blessing, Your acceptance, Your healing. We love You. Come Holy Spirit. Minister in our hearts with Your healing spirit. Amen.

If this concept has interested you, here are some of the verses she gave me.

Psalm 32:7-8 – Thou art my hiding place; Thou dost preserve me from trouble; Thou dost surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

Psalm 139:13-14 – For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Psalm 147:3 – He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.

Isaiah 30:18 – Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.

Isaiah 57:15 – For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Luke 4:14 -Jesus said, "[God] has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden."

Exodus 23:27-30 – I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets ahead of you, that they may drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate, and the beast of the field become too numerous for you. I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.