"And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."
~Romans 5:5, NIV
Tuesday's Trust
What is Hope without Despair?
Part One
1 Therefore, since we are justified acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
2 Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God’s favor) in which we [firmly and safely] stand. And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God.
3 Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.
4 And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.
5 Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.
Romans 5:1-5
Amplified Bible (AMP)
~~~
What is Hope Without Despair?
What is Hope without despair?
In plummeting the depths of darkness,
does one finally see?
Left to ourselves, with only our
frail devices, leads to futility.
Grief and Trauma have left us a
shell, where darkness descends
like a living hell,
leaving us no energy to claw
out of the deep despair,
and even if we could claw our
way out, what would we find there?
Our child is still dead,
our energy has waned,
There are still debts to be paid
and there's our heart's deep pain.
Even the Bible declares we
are the most to be pitied
if this life is all there is…
Our success-consumed culture
demands, "How is your
bank balance, where are your
clients, are you tending your biz?"
No, we must learn a new path
for ourselves in this hostile
environment that will not
make room for a parent to
grieve her child. Can they not
see grief is at the very heart
of love! And love is the
very heart of God!
And God's way may temporarily
lead to death (look all
around us, are we not, in
many ways, the walking
dead?) but with God's hand's
creative touch, death is not
the end, it is merely the
beginning of something
better ~~~ not the re-creation
of our old life, for we can
never return to that, no,
we must be a new creation
having absorbed the death
of our child, and the lifeless-
ness of ourselves, there is a
new surge of the dynamos
that must explode through
us, waking us up, bringing
us to life, Real Life, not mere
"success" that is empty once
held up to the Light, not a
hefty-bank account filled with
what will turn out to be only inflated
fool's gold, not a busy life that
is too busy to stop for grief ~~~
No,
these views of "success" are made of
the old cloth, the cloth that will not
stand up to our new life and its
treasures that hold grief and
mourning, sadness and
tears, all of which may seem
depressing to our old eyes,
but our new eyes see the
hidden treasures of love and
compassion, of a life filled with
God's tenderness and His close
companionship to the broken-hearted
~~~ a life filled with the golden
awareness that with our God's
help, we will see our child
again, love will be
re-consummated, hearts will
be made whole, tears will be
reimbursed with the diamonds
of love, joy, peace, laughter ~~~
a new beauty raised up out of
the ashes, a glorious delight
out of the deep mournfulness,
a spirit of praise out of the
spirit of despair, a glorious
transformation that can only
give glory to the Creator who
made it all possible.
Poem ~What is Hope Without Despair? ~ Angie B. Prince, June 4, 2014
Graphic, Thanks to
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