Hope - It's What We Want... What We Really, Really Want...

Hope...

(We're gonna ignore that ya'll were just singing a SpiceGirls song in your head.  We'll just leave that one alone for now...)

Hope. Joy. Peace.

I know.  I know it's after Christmas and the boxes are (getting) put away and all the festive Advent talk can be pushed aside... there is an exhale that we made it through. 

We survived. And it was good... In this weary world, Christmas - Christs' coming - it is always good.

We catch our breath, and then comes the New Year with all it's Clean Slates and Righteous Ambition... with all the new ways we are going to be Nailing it in 2015 and whether we say it loud and proud, or pencil it in quietly, we are just praying that it's true.

I wrote about it earlier this week... about how I was already feeling behind on All The Things, but really that's just a lie. How can I be behind already?

No, I - WE-- we're not behind!  That's just a trick we play on ourselves.

It is something we entertain that is not from God.  It's a whisper or a thought or a running tally of all the ways we are not, in fact, nailing it and it makes us tired and weary and it feels like a drain and all that shiny New Year ambition is just leaking out, seeping into cold, dry ground.

No, we are not behind... whether we are on track, on point, on schedule, or - well, or completely not! We are not behind.  

This God of ours - He is the holder of all the hours... He is the one who orders our days and hands out our minutes... and He is not stingy when it comes to giving... 

We may need to manage our time a bit better... (um, hello? This is me preaching to me right here!)  We may need to really pray about all those (less-than)Best Yeses we have been saying and remind ourselves that in order to say Yes to something, that means we need to say No to a thing or two, as well!

Still, Ann with no 'e' tells us to slow down time by being fully present in it... by counting gifts and seeing how it is all a grace and every one of our moments hold gifts for the taking if we will but pause to see.  

What we need is not more time... it's more HOPE!

Hope fills and it flows... It carries us and pulls us toward that which our hearts are longing for!

It heals and restores... it is what we are in need of... and He offers it freely.

Websters defines Hope like this:

to want something to happen or be true and think that it could happen or be true

 to cherish a desire with anticipation 

  to expect with confidence :  trust

Proverbs tells us that "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life." (3:12 Ampl)

And Romans 5 reminds us of this:

"By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready..." 

Did you see that?  We are not behind... We are in Him and Christ arrives right on time!  

No, Hope doesn't just fill and flow, heal and restore... 
Hope leads us somewhere... and who couldn't use some wide open spaces?

To quote that cute little kid in the old McDonald's commercial, "Hopes good!"

P.S.  I'm linking up with these lovely writers:

Jennifer Dukes Lee for #TellHisStory

Holley Gerth for #CoffeeforYourHeart

Meredith Bernard for #Woman2WomanWednesday

And in case you need a little Anthem for this New Year...