Jesus is my HOPE

Today I feel as though life is tossing & throwing me this way and that.  

In times like these, it is not uncommon to find myself grasping for things to steady me while I am amidst the ferocity of life's waves.  

I am so thankful that I have a God who can tether me and keep me in the palm of His hand no matter what I go through.  Life can be trying sometimes.  It is ever a reminder of the fact that this is not my home.  Yesterday in the Beth Moore video she spoke about hope and how our hope is anchored in Christ.  It occured to me today, that if you happen to place your hope in something.....ANYTHING other than CHRIST - your hope will be in vain.  Do this too many times and hopelessness will set in.  Beth made a statement about hopelessness...."Hopelessness will always make your soul sick." She gave several scriptures that talked about the connection between a lack of hope and a downcast soul.  I know what this is like.  I have been there a time or two.  Hopelessness is heart-sickening.  But, hopelessness comes straight from the pit of hell....I believe that the enemy uses it to perpetuate his plan to foil my trust in God.  Hopelessness & feelings of helplessness are weapons used to thwart my faith.  They are lies.  The quickest way to a renewed hope is to turn my focus back to Christ.  Just like when Peter was walking on the water, out to Jesus....the second he took his focus off of Jesus, he started to sink.....so it is with me.  It's easy to take my eyes of the LORD and focus on the temporal things of this earthly life and allow the overwhelming feelings of hopelessness creep in and overtake me.  Psalm 42:11 tells me to put my hope in God....that is where I can find the strength to go on and the grace I need to make it through tough times.  It is only in the presence of my mighty God that my soul will find refreshment from the weariness of life.  The bonus is that while there in His holy presence I can't help but find myself singing of His faithfulness & grace ....what else can you do when you are faced with such undeserved mercy???  There is only one response.  That is, to cry out in uninhibited worship of "El Roi" - the God who sees me, right where I'm at and pours out His lavish love on me.  Praise you, Jesus!  You are my rock & my Savior.