Not Just A Feeling But The Reality

 

And there I will give her

her vineyards

and make the Valley of Achor

     a door of hope.

          Hosea 2. 15

In the most impossible places

    of hardship

    we find ourselves in,

in the midst of trouble,

a door of hope emerges

    out of the darkness.

God brings us to where

    we are suddenly aware.

God transforms

   not just our surroundings

           but our hearts.

He opens not a new door,

   but a portal of hope,

not just a different way

of looking at this mess.

We are no defined by the hard stuff,

   but being refined by God in it.

And God provides

    the vineyards we need

    to sustain us there.

Things will not always be

      as they appear now.

God gives us a future

            and a hope.

O LORD,

Wishing for something different

   leads us only deeper

   into despair.

But staking our lives on You

   changes everything.

Circumstances may not differ,

   but You transform us

               through them.

Help us to not miss

   Your Presence here.

Show us how to stay faithful

          even through this valley,

and know that hope will emerge

   in the most unexpected ways.

Help us too to point others

     in the valley of trouble

that You are here

                  among us.