Don't lose hope

Verse for the Day:
Psalm 31:24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the Lord.

If you haven't read Psalm 31 or haven't read it lately I would encourage you to do so. But if not at least take this passage into your heart. Sometimes in life we have things happen that just seem to be one thing after another. You know, stuff like a car for instance... first you get a flat and there isn't any spare and then in a short time it's something else, like the radiator leaking, then something else happens. At some point you either start saying "Hey, enough is enough!" or "Why Me?" It's in those times that we are best to remember this particular verse. To me, it is a wonderful reminder of where we place our hope.
We so easily start to believe that maybe God isn't happy with us and He is going to make our lives miserable until we realize we were wrong and come crawling back to Him. You might say,"that's an awful thing to say. Our Lord isn't like that!" But be honest.... Have you ever said these words before, "WHY ME?" If you're honest I bet you'll say yes. No, you may not have come right out and said "God is out to get me." But, you've thought it. You've sat and thought "What does He want from me, I'm doing everything that I possibly can and still I have more struggles to go through. When is it going to be time for me to have a little bit of peace and joy in my life." Ok, if you have never ever thought anything even remotely like this then you have my most humble apology.
I will admit that I myself have felt that way on several occassions. For me, even when I am having my daily quiet times and studying as I should, thoughts can easily creep in when something unexpected happens like my husband losing his job or quitting his job. The first thing that comes to mind is "Oh No, now what are we going to do." The second thing is "It's going to be alright. If we let God take control, He will show us what we need to do and everything will work out for good in Christ." That last part, that's the hardest part. Let me explain. It's very easy to say Lord I'm giving you control. (then you need to follow through with it, don't try and take it back from Him) The last part, For good in Christ, is not always easy to accept. You see He will take care of things, they will work out. But not necessarily like we would like them too. He may have an entirely different plan for you than what you would like. Sometimes He needs to show us something about ourselves that we haven't wanted to see before. It may be an overgrown ego, or poor stewardship or an addiction that we can't see staring us in the face. God will use this time to bring you into a better place. A place where you can become the person
your heavenly Father wants you to be. Let's face it. As children we probably all had a time when Dad (or Mom) said, "It's for your own good!" How many of us believed it at the time?! But as we get older and learn more and even have children of our own, we see that they were right all along. For me this verse helps me remember that In Christ we can "Be strong, and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the Lord." I know of no better place for my hope to be then in my awesome heavenly Father.