Join Me in Hope-MORE!

Grief happens when things seem hopeless. I think we should start a hope-MORE club.Observe with me some of the things that make us grieve:*lost time.*broken promises.*hurtful words.*dead ends.*heavy hearts.*stress fractures.*ungrateful reactions.It strikes me that God grieves over the same things that hurt us. His heart breaks over the same things that break ours. Yet He brings healing when we grieve. He resurrects our buried dreams. He reunites families and friends. He takes the dead things and brings new life to them. He gives new meaning by His presence and His TOUCH on our lives.God shares our hurts. His heart breaks over:*Lost time and opportunities but, not being bound by time, He restores those moments.*Broken promises when He offers His new covenant full of the promise of first love.*Unfaithful followers when He regains trust with His unfailing kindness and mercy.*Hurtful words or gaping wounds by healing us through His goodness.*Dead ends become detours to the faithful who persevere.*Heavy hearts who turn to Him see that "joy comes in the morning." Wait for the Light after the night.*Stress fractures in our hearts receive His peace and restoration.*Ungrateful reactions are wooed to gratitude by His Spirit.In Nain Jesus raised the son of a widow (Luke 7:11-17). Eugene Peterson refers to Nain as "a place of holy mystery." What is your "place of holy mystery," the time in your life when God flipped your grief from hope-less to hope-MORE?Romans 5:3b-5 tells us that suffering becomes perseverance which builds character which breeds hope. Maybe we got stuck at Hope-Less Junction in the suffering mode. Shift gears into Perseverance and watch Him develop the character in your life that is fertile soil for hope. Join me in the Land of Hope-More:"And we rejoice in the HOPE of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, HOPE, and HOPE does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Suffering -> Perseverance -> Character -> HOPE = Overflowing LOVE!