No Pitying Necessary

I thought that waiting was the hardest thing to do...now I've found something harder: giving up hope.

This week I will be celebrating my 22nd birthday. It also marks the day two years ago that Matt and I went on our first of many walks. Even though I know it's not going to happen, I still want to cling to the hope that Matt will show up on my doorstep and ask me to go on another walk. It's super hard to accept that it's never going to happen. In fact, it makes waiting not seem so bad at all. I would wait years if it meant that I could still have my hope. But those of you who know me well would know that I tend to be a very hopeful person...overly-confident & optimistic...idealistic I suppose. And right now, I need to accept that clinging to that unreal hope is just that: idealistic and not accepting reality.

So...the cry of my heart is for God to help me give up this hope. Even though He led me to Romans 4:18-25 the day after Matt broke things off. Even though I have absolutely no understanding of why He would do this. Even though I have no closure. I have no choice but to give up this hope. I don't write this for you to pity me, but in hopes of encouraging you when your own trials come. There may be times when you have your own hope that it seems God takes away from you for no reason. There may be times when you have no understanding why He is turning your world upside down...

But in the midst of all this, I am SO grateful for the one hope I have that I never ever have to give up. I think you know what I'm talking about: Jesus is coming back for us! This brokenness is not forever. He's coming back to make all things new! 1 Cor. 15, specifically vs 19 says: And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are to be pitied more than anyone in the world." How true is that, huh??

THANK THE LORD  that He has given us the confidence to know that we don't have to be pitied. We have hope that God is so faithful and never backs out on His promises. We have hope that He is eternally committed to us and is so looking forward to the day when He finally gets to join with His Bride for all eternity! I can't begin to imagine the pain it would feel to give up that hope, and I'm oh so thankful that I won't ever have to! Instead I join in all the more with the Spirit and the Bride saying, "Come!" (Rev. 22:17)

In one of my conversations earlier this week, someone mentioned that all of these hardships in life certainly make our eternal home all the more appealing. I couldn't agree more! And I'm so thankful to be gaining the perspective of Paul a little more each day: "To live is Christ & to die is gain."