Author: Highlighting Hope

Last week, I spent several hours, almost every day, pulling up the many invasive weeds that had found their way into all of the flowers beds surrounding our house… and as strange as it sounds, it was absolutely wonderful. It was a job that I had dreaded at first, but surprisingly, come to love once I got started.

The week was filled with beautiful weather, and the sounds of my children playing happily in the backyard provided me with sounds of peace and enjoyment. For hours each day, I pulled weed after weed, and all the while, I found myself in a state of worship. Dirty gloves on my hands and dirt flinging everywhere as I pulled up each invader, seemed like an unlikely place for worship, but yet for me, this is what it provided.

With each pull, I knew I was a little closer to my desired result, and with each continued pull of weed after weed, I also found myself reflecting on the work that God has done in my life. You can go from person to person and ask them about God, who He is, and what they think of Him, and you will most likely get a different answer from each person. In our culture today, relative truth is more acceptable than absolute truth, and sadly it has many standing on a pile of sinking sand. Regardless of what each person says about God, thankfully there is an absolute truth of who He really is, and it rises above all of our varied opinions. The truth is, God is the God of great deliverance, the God of restoration, and the God who rescues us from sin. As I pulled and removed each weed, these truths began to flood my heart and mind. Through this reflection, I became overcome with gratitude for God’s work in my life and that He doesn’t leave us as we are.
This God who rescues came to me at a time when my life was overrun with highly invasive weeds, but thankfully this God of deliverance and restoration has a presence that is much more invasive, and He graciously began to remove each invader, one by one. As I saw these weed infested flower beds, I saw a picture of my life, and I couldn’t help but find myself in a state of worship. As I worked diligently to clean out each area, I was surprised at the weakness and strength that some of these weeds had. Big, huge, and tall growing weeds caught my attention first. I had my spade in hand, ready to dig if necessary, but to my surprise, a simple pull was usually all that was required to remove these types. It was the low growing weeds, the ones that didn’t draw as much attention, that were the ones that were so difficult to remove. These were the ones that required the use of the spade.
The strongholds in our lives vary from person to person, and we all have them. Our greatest struggles often feel the most painful as God works to remove them from our lives, and yet it’s in these places I have seen God’s greatest acts of grace and love in my life. I’m thankful that God doesn’t stop that the weeds in our lives that are easiest to remove, but instead He digs deep to remove the ones with the strongest roots and then fills those gaping holes up with more of Him. As I continue to recognize the weeds in my life that God is continuing to show me and remove from me, I will kneel in worship to the One who has not left me as I am but is continuously making me new!

When my son was little, my husband had certain things that he loved picking on him about. It would be getting close to a meal time and my son would say something like, “I’m so hungry! What are we eating for supper?”

My husband would quickly jump on the opportunity to answer his question with, “Grant, you are going to love supper tonight! I’m going to go outside and pick a bunch of grass and mix it with some dirt and maybe add in some rocks for a crunch.”

It was always so funny to hear my husband’s “purposed dinner menu” because it was absolutely and obviously absurd – even to a little boy and it provided us with a good laugh!

Our son knew his father’s crazy answer to his question was not what he was going to be fed for supper because he knows his father and he knows his father’s goodness to him- despite the fact that he still didn’t know the real answer to his question. His relationship with his father and his father’s constant provision for him proved otherwise.

Matthew 7:9-11 says, “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

I think if we are honest, we could say that we have experienced moments of doubt towards God. Life has a way of throwing curve balls and hardships our way, causing us to become vulnerable to doubting God’s goodness and plan. But yet, it’s through difficulty that I have personally seen and experienced God’s gracious hand and provision in my life. My circumstances may have been ones that I despised, but I have been able to see God rise above them and, in turn, know the God I serve in a deeper way!

Difficult seasons have served as a reminder to me that our circumstances do not change the nature of God. His very own people that He rescued from captivity out of Egypt were not immediately led into the land flowing with milk and honey, but rather they first had to endure a long, difficult, and trying journey through the desert. Did this harsh climate change the nature and goodness of God? Absolutely not! Instead, we see Him miraculously provide Manna from heaven and water flowing from a rock!

God began to challenge me many months ago to ask myself, “What is your Manna from heaven?” My focus can so easily become fixed upon my difficulties that I stop seeking God and miss seeing how He is present and active in my life currently- despite the hardship.

So, I extend to you the same question the Lord impressed on me, “What is the Manna from heaven that God is providing in your life right now?”

Maybe you find yourself in a wilderness place, but as a child of God, rest assured, although the climate of life may be relentlessly tough, know that God is providing you with His Manna from heaven. Pray that He would allow you to see beyond your circumstances, that so easily blind us, so that you may see His glorious love and goodness that is being displayed in your life in spite of difficulty.

Because God is our good father, we have His unwavering promises and His undeniable truths! He is surely faithful to give good things to those who ask Him in faith!

Isaiah 54:10
“…. Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord.

At the end of every week, a folder gets sent home with my son with graded work and other important papers. Last night, I finally sat down to look through his folder and quickly discovered a few things I needed to go over with him. Math is his favorite subject and he tends to do pretty well in this area, but this weeks’ grade seemed to tell a bit of a different story. After having three years of homeschool experience with him, I’d say that I am pretty familiar with his work habits- good and bad. As I examined his math sheet a bit further, it was very evident that his grade reflected not his inability to do the work correctly, but rather it revealed that he just didn’t pay attention to the details and that he didn’t read the math questions carefully. So as I began doing my “mama thing” and started spouting out words of wisdom for him to live by, God began to doing His “God thing” and placed that mirror of self -reflection right in front of me.

Just as I was telling my son, “If it is written, it’s meant to be read. And since it’s meant to be read, then it should be read carefully. And it’s okay to read it more than once,” the Holy Spirit began that grand work of conviction. In that very moment, God pierced my heart and said, “Just as My word has been written, it’s meant to be read. And since it’s meant to be read, it should be read carefully. And it’s okay to read it more than once.”

As I sat, heavy with conviction, 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 came to mind. “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” My mind began to be filled with question after question as I began my self- evaluation. How high of a regard do I really have for carefully reading the very words breathed by God? How often do I just skim the pages searching for the parts that I like instead of lingering in the difficult and the hard to swallow parts? How often do I go to God’s word to be corrected, taught, and equipped for His good work? And the last one stung a little… As I have this found love for writing and sharing the hope God gives us, I even had to ask myself, how often do I go to God’s word only in search of my next writing topic?

God’s holy word is meant to be handled with intentional care and just as we are to know God’s word, we are also meant to be transformed by it. It is a gracious gift that God has given us His word to be at our daily disposal. He spoke these very words to be written, and because these words are written, they are meant to be read with utmost care, definitely more than once! God help us to be careful examiners of your word!

“My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.” Proverbs 4:20-22

“I can never let anyone know that I am battling this. I just need to keep this to myself and just get through it.” That’s what I told myself when my battle with anxiety began. I was full of confusion and fear because never had I faced anything like this before. Secrecy seemed logical, because surely no Christian with a true faith in Jesus could ever battle something like this to such a great extent! This was the lie that I wholeheartedly believed.

This sudden plague of anxiety felt outside of the norm, especially when I was surrounded by other believers whose lives seemed normal, so to speak. I suffered in silence for a while, only disclosing my struggle to my husband- until I could bare it no longer.

God blessed me with sweet moments with dear friends and family members (you know who you are! 💖) who encouraged me with scripture, prayed with me, and encouraged me. I don’t like feeling needy and I like to be a “do it myself” type of person, but this I could not do on my own. Although the storm raged on, God’s hope continued to shine ever so brightly, in spite of its constant brewing, as I began taking in and dwelling on His truth.

Keeping my struggle a secret was the worst thing that I did. Because this struggle was so great , so was my need for help. Isolated, lonely, and discouraged is what this storm and struggle brought me when I tried walking it alone, which is exactly what the enemy wanted me to do.

My disclosure to others helped me to have a knowledge of what I was dealing with and I learned that I was not alone. In fact, there are so many more people out there, brothers and sisters in Christ, that are suffering in silence.

Maybe you can relate…

Whatever your struggle is today, don’t suffer in silence. Don’t succumb to isolation and discouragement. God was so gracious in His formation of the church, in that we belong to a beautiful body of believers where we can encourage one another and build each other up! These loved ones in my life served as voices of truth that I so desperately needed to hear when finding my way was difficult to near impossible. Find someone that you know that will speak God’s truth to you, and watch God begin shining His hope into your life ever so brightly! He is faithful to do it!

16 years ago today, I received the greatest rescuing of all time! I was driving in my car and God intervened! He took me out of a life of darkness and brought me into His glorious light!

I’m thankful for the unending grace of God! It’s a grace that is always more than enough, it never runs dry, and it always covers me!

I’m thankful for forgiveness and restoration so I can have a relationship with my Heavenly Father!

I’m thankful that in the most difficult times of life, God remains faithful, providing strength to endure!

I’m thankful for the hope that He has provided me with when I could have been hopeless!

I’m thankful that today, 16 years ago, Jesus had compassion on me! He welcomed me in as I was and in His great love, He began healing me and changing me! March 1, 2004 will always be a day to remember!

🎶 Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found. Was blind but now I see! 🎶

When something becomes difficult, I’m tempted to abandon ship! My first inclination when difficulty arises is that “this clearly must not be for me!” But, I am quickly learning that an easy road is not always the reality of following God’s call, and that just because something becomes hard, does not mean that it should not be done or pursued.

I think that we have all encountered days where we are ready to throw in the towel, with our hands thrown up in the air and say, “I’m done!” But often times it’s at these moments where God is busy doing a great work, and a much greater faith and trust in Him is required.

Moses was given an extremely hard task, and was definitely a task that needed to be done despite its’ difficulty. I can’t even begin to imagine how intimidating it would have been to face the powerful ruler, Pharaoh,  and demand that he release all of his slaves, but Moses knew the power of his God,  and therefore, his faith was able to be steadfast in God!

“By faith he (Moses) left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.” Hebrews 11:27

As you go about your day and you encounter difficult tasks, know that the God who went before Moses also goes before you!  God of the Bible is still God of today and He has not changed!

In our trying moments,  may our faith rise above the difficult and necessary tasks  that God has set  before us, and follow Moses’s example to “see Him who is invisible” and trust completely in God’s ability to see us through!

God is purposeful in His great assignments for our lives and it’s not due to our qualifications but because we serve a great God who longs to work through those who are constantly seeking and trusting Him!

“I just want to love God and I want to be a Christian! I really want to see Jesus one day.” The true longing in my son’s voice for the Lord was undeniable and I knew God was at work in Grant’s heart. Hearing those words flow from his mouth was an answer to our many prayers that began before he was born. We have always tread very carefully with salvation when it comes to our children because we want it to be a true act of what God is doing, not merely following in Mom and Dad’s footsteps.

The biggest thing that we wanted to see in his life was fruit and evidence that God was really and truly at work in his life. If I’m being honest, it’s a difficult assessment to make without expecting perfection. I prayed that God would allow me to have the wisdom and insight to know the difference in looking for fruit verses expecting perfection, because at the end of the day we all fall short and he is a child.

As I was looking for fruit, I overlooked a heart of brokenness. Beautiful, healthy plants are pruned first, and often look unattractively stubby. Last week I took time to talk with Grant about self-control and controlling his emotions. Later that day, I walked up to my son, and his eyes were filled with tears. I immediately asked what was wrong and he answered, “Mom I’m praying that God will help me with self-control and I want to ask if you will pray that for me, too?” Our conversation had ended, but God’s work was just beginning. Although it was a moment of brokenness, it was in fact a beautiful moment. A broken and contrite heart is exactly what God loves. (Psalm 51:17)

Yes, we look for fruit but often times it is proceeded by a broken branch that will in turn produce beauty in abundance! I thank God that He doesn’t leave us broken, but instead He is steadily working to make us new!