Hope Eternal

I had a comment on my last blog post from  another blogger, Laurie Collett .  In it she mentioned, regarding the Lord,  'without Him we can do nothing, but with Him, all things are possible'.

Part of my response to Laurie's comment spoke of my opening my Bible to read that morning straight to Psalm 20, where I had previously underlined verse 7 which reads  'Some boast of chariots and some of horses; but we boast of the name of the Lord our God.'

 

I have to say that I realized some time after that this verse coincides with what the Lord spoke to me regarding my long trial which began many years ago, where He spoke to me personally through Isaiah ch. 31 vs.1-3 with the words

 ' Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord! Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and  not spirit.'

 

I know absolutely that the Lord is using this verse from Psalm 20 to remind and encourage me to continue to trust solely in Him to bring me through this trial, (spoken of in one of my previous posts http://www.lighthousevision.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/increase-my-faith-in-you-lord.html) regardless of the timing of it, and I have to say that I have total peace through His words enlightened to me by the Holy Spirit.  We are in a spiritual battle and the war is not with flesh and blood, and these scriptures to me have to be discerned spiritually. Egypt speaks spiritually of the world and the chariots and horses speak spiritually of worldly strength.

 

Because of all that is happening in my life at this moment I feel I would like to share in this post  something I wrote years ago regarding 'HOPE'.

Some years ago a relative of mine sent me a poem he had written.  It was about feelings and thoughts during an interview, which started off with the subject being hopeful of being accepted and which ended with these hopes being dashed. 

I noticed that each of the three verses of the poem had a specific letter at the beginning of each line.  These letters ran in the sequence of DSU.   As I looked at these letters a sentence formed in my mind:- 
'Don't Sink Under',
 
Then these words came into my mind:- 

Don't sink under when things do not go
according to your own plan

for each of your days is written in the book
of One far greater than man 

I thought about these words and how we can feel that things may be going wrong for us because something that we hoped for and expected to happen does not happen, or maybe does not happen at the time that we want or expect it to happen.  Yet, how do we know that maybe our own plans were meant to fail to allow God's plans to come to pass in our lives..... and maybe at His perfect timing
  

Jesus' plan for Peter to walk on water was not achieved through Peter's own efforts.  It was achieved through keeping his eyes on Jesus, not on the circumstance he found himself in.  Jesus says that in the world we have tribulation, in Him we have peace, ' These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.' John ch. 16 v.33  so we should not let tribulation worry us to the extent that we sink within the circumstance.   We must keep our eyes upon Jesus, and the word that has been spoken to us as we seek Him.

 

A few days ago I hurt my back through picking up a bag of top soil to take out into the garden  in order to plant some iris in tubs.  I was ticked off by my husband who said I should have come to ask him to carry it for me instead of trying to do it myself.  It spoke spiritually to me immediately.  How many times do we as Christians try to carry, and endeavour to tackle, our earthly burdens ourselves instead of going to the One of whom we are advised to 'cast our burdens upon' as in:-
 

Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.  Psalm ch. 55 v.22,

 

'Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established Proverbs ch. 16 v.3

 

'casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 1 Peter ch. 5 v. 7

This is a little poem that I wrote that spoke comfort to me regarding trusting the Lord instead of myself in these situations:-

Trust
Do not worry, do not fear
let your heart be still
For who on earth of mortal man
can always know God's will
But this we know, who worship Him
by faith shall live the just
For then we see the power of
The One in whom we trust

' You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon You, because he trusts in You.  Trust in the Lord forever for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.'    Isaiah ch.26 vs 3,4

The more we trust in the Lord the more our faith in Him will grow.  What is faith?  Is it not ' 'the substance of things hoped for'? Hebrews ch. 11 v.1

HOPE

CAUSE FOR HOPE

Psalm 142 says that when our spirit is faint the Lord knows our way, that when we cry to Him saying that He is our refuge, our portion in the land of the living, and ask for deliverance from an enemy ( remembering that our enemies are spiritual, not flesh and blood) too strong for us, He will deal bountifully with us.

STRENGTH OF HOPE

Hope does not cease to be because we are weak in faith, unable to believe or fail to hold on to what God has spoken. It is merely hidden from our view by shadows of our frail humanity.  Hope is eternal, as God is eternal.  Its fire cannot be quenched, though ashes of mortality be cast upon its coals when floods of fear and pain block our vision of God's power. Yet still its embers, burning bright, may be rekindled as breath of love divine once more fans flames of hope within the heart of man, when written word and Spirit mind recall the plan and purpose of creator God and His Son.  Then shadows sinister and cold recede and disappear, as soul of man unites with love of God, and conquers once again that which seeks to cause doubt.

SOURCE OF DOUBT
An 'enemy too strong for us' can be many things.  Sickness, loneliness, debt, jealousy, covetousness or guilt are just a few examples.

DEALING WITH DOUBT
If we are afraid of an enemy our fear will usually cause us to run from that enemy, and it will give chase until we tire of running, and it will overpower us.
When Jehoshaphat was told 'A great multitude is coming against you from Edom'  2 Chronicles ch. 20 v.2  we are told; 'He feared, and set himself to seek the Lord,' v.3 
So too, we who are spiritual Israelites, though we fear, may set ourselves to seek the Lord in the same way that Jehoshaphat did, and ask for help. 
The Lord's answer to Jehoshaphat through the prophet was 'Fear not and be not dismayed at this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's'. 2 Chronicles ch. 20 v.15  Will the answer not be the same for us?

This is a prayer that I wrote for myself, I make it a prayer for any and all who choose it also to be a prayer for themselves.



 Hope Eternal
                                                                                                    

Oh hope eternal, flame of God,
disposer of all strife
with fuel of power, Spirit borne,
create in me new life
Bring change of mind in circumstance,
when all around is night
cause doubt in heart to be dispelled
 by brightness of Your light
Oh hope eternal, love divine
create in me new heart
that line of safety.... Spirit cord
might never break apart