Drought

Living in North Carolina, we have had issues with drought this past year. It was actually pretty severe and water restrictions were taken very seriously. It led to the pastors at our church praying together specifically for rain. Like all things, you do not always realize the importance of things until you are without it. Days, weeks, then months went by and there was still no rain, rain that was needed to keep our lakes full so that we would be able to sustain the water needs of the people in the community. People were looking to the skies hoping that when they saw clouds, the rain would come but when it did not, people began to lose hope. Now, God is not in the business of granting our every request but He does know that we cannot live without hope. The question we must ask ourselves is; where does our hope come from?

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him.

Psalms 62:5

Just as faith is a gift from God to us, so is hope. It is this wonderfully sweet blessing from God that is given to us when we enter into His family. Our hope is found in His unfailing love for each one of us and the fact that our full redemption is guaranteed. God Himself protects this precious gift for us in heaven.

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love.

Psalms 33:18

Droughts are bound to come into our lives and when they come, where do we find ourselves? Do we find ourselves surrounded by doubt or are we hopeful and our faith strong because we know God is faithful? When those droughts come, we must be prepared to sustain them by being filled with His word and His spirit in our lives. Our nature requires that we need something tangible when troubles come our way and so God has provided His word as a way to show us that there is hope.

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Romans 15:4

The bible is God's promise to us and all of His promises were made to us through Jesus. Jesus Christ is our living hope, our promise, the source of all Truth, our Anchor. Hope is what allows God's grace and kindness to pour into us and it is our link to strength and courage. If our hope is not found in Christ alone then we will surely flounder when times of despair and trouble come our way because there is no other hope for our rescue.

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 1:20

The story of Abraham is another perfect example of Gods kept promises to us. There are times we may have to wait for His promises which can be hard, but we can be sure that when our hope is found in Christ, we will receive what is promised. (Hebrews 6:15) God's promises that were fulfilled in the past are our assurance that He will fulfill those promises in the future.

And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

Hebrews 6:15

When you experience a lack of hope, you have to believe that God "will make the Valley of Anchor a door of hope". (Hosea 2:15) God takes our troubles and turns them into a doorway that leads to Hope, to Him. When we enter into a time of distress and worry, we do not have to be afraid to walk through the doorway where Jesus is standing on the other side ready to take our troubles. When we turn them over to Him and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and become our living hope, His faithfulness and love will give us the hope we need and we will not be let down.

"Father, may my soul find rest in You and may You be my source, my living hope when the droughts of this life come my way. May Your Word and Christ be my sustenance, strength and my Anchor."