Giving Hope

Beautiful days turned suddenly sodden are happening everywhere.  Tragic moments appear in the midst of the most calm.  No one is immune, no one is singled out, and no one knows why in the middle of perfect joy can come the bleakest moment that rips a hole in your heart.

You struggle for words of comfort, wise words of hope, even when you cannot come to grips with the insanity of the situation, the disappointment, the seeming unfairness.  How do you overcome the untenable, the hopelessness of not being in control, the gut-wrenching pain of ineffectiveness? 

Books by the dozens offer consolement, but who can adequately put themselves in a position they know not the depths of?  So at best we falter with empty words, trying at best to put an encouraging thought on a hurtful situation.  More often than not, we fail.

To be compassionate and to commiserate, you must know the alarm of fear and time-warp of senses when the proverbial rug is jerked out from under you.  You must recognize the stages of hope and grief, and the patience required of both.  Because the pit left when the rug leaves is...massive, devastating, real, leaving you prostrate and defeated.  And there are days when you feel you are in this pit alone, no matter the "noise" surrounding you.

Cliché phrases will not suffice, even when one knows the truth of them. I defer to an article more adequately and eloquently spoken:  We Do Not Lose Heart.  

Especially on my heart today are the children fighting hideous diseases and injuries through no fault of their own, their mothers and fathers who are anguishing over their pain and feeling helpless to overcome, and all the caregivers who must watch and work professionally even while their hearts must be breaking every moment. 

To friends and friend of friends facing the ravages of disease and the futility of the pit that comes with it, you are filling my heart and it overflows with prayers to the Father.  When words fail, the Spirit rescues:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  (Romans 8:26) 

Ornament of My Life

My Christmas tree is loaded with a variety of ornaments, some new and some old, some silly and some works of art.  It is a hodge-podge mixture that pleases me because it is familiar and comfortable.  Gazing at the ornaments brings memories, feelings...emotions.

Christmas can be the most joyful or most depressing holiday.  Joy can be riding high but brought low immediately by a change in circumstances - two grandchildren having RSV means that family will be absent for our family gathering!  - Reading a story or watching a video brings tears...but of happiness.  The mood that follows is influenced by the emotions cruising through the body and mind.  

Whatever emotion is prevalent today dictates the manner in which other people are addressed, listened to or tolerated.  Pain brings on its own set of emotions demanding tremendous effort to overcome.

Emotions rule...don't they?  If everything we think, touch or feel is affected by our emotions, the outcome is directly related to some particular need of my soul that very hour.  Perhaps the trick is to identify the emotional source and separate it from actual happenings in life. 

Emotions are likened to fuels.  Producing the right response to someone hurting or in need is appropriate and welcomed.  Emotional outbursts of indignation or temper suggest an unhealthy fixation on one's self and satisfying the constant urging of self-pleasure and self-interests...all to the exclusion of other people and things.  

Emotions can dim judgment, skew factual consideration and crowd out healthier thoughts.  Emotions should fuel our lives, not steer it!

The Christian is one who bases his whole confidence in God and His work of grace, then the emotions 

become the beautiful ornament of the life, not the source of it. ~ Oswald Chambers

Today, my tree of ornaments and hopefully, every facet of my life is ruled by the light of this world.  I can see, feel, touch, think nothing without God's influence because my confidence, my trust, my purpose lies with Him.  

Not all the ornaments on my tree represent growth or maturity.  But when I choose to look upon them through the grace of God, I see them differently and my emotion is always joy!