1 Peter 1:24-25
“For all men are like grass, and their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.”
The lush greens that graced the trees of our glorious, Canadian summer have wrapped themselves in the colour of death as they fall to the ground. The lovely, floral blooms that once graced the garden have bowed their heads in submission to Jack frost and their once beautiful statures now stand curled and gnarled. Beauty fades! Youth ages! Strength wanes! Bodies deteriorate! Riches tarnish! Success passes! Friends leave! Possessions break and popularity dies! All humanity is mortal and fleeting and all of our material strivings eventually come to an end at the end of our road, or maybe even before. In what then, do we put our Hope? In what then do we put our Trust? I Peter 1: 24, 25 quotes old Testament, Isaiah 40:6-8 and gives clear encouragement that God’s Word remains steadfast and His work prevails. Time does not limit Him from carrying out His plan for a lost world. We must put our Hope and trust in an Everlasting God whose plan of salvation reaches to save the lost and whose words will remain powerful when all of creation bows to His sovereignty.
Isaiah 40: 6-8
“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
the grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”
Little Thoughts For Big Days
So, the voice of the Holy Spirit nudges you and whispers a promise into your beautiful soul. It’s just the thing you needed for the moment and the issue at hand. You believe it and say “Thank you” and feel ‘over – loved’ with a rich, deep, divine love and overwhelmed that God would give such a voice of direction and confident assurance to such a one as you. It’s so real, and to believe at the moment seems so easy!
The days go by and the answer appears to be on hold and the circumstances? Well, they’re just so contrary to the promise and so another voice begins it’s ascent and bombards your life and steals your assurance. It’s that powerful little voice of fear that torments and tugs and pulls and God’s voice and that other little voice compete for your attention. Do we trust what we don’t see or begin to lose heart and hope? I often wonder how Noah must have felt when God told him to build the ark and entrusted him with such great responsibility with no rain or flood warnings in the forecast. Those looking on mocked and ridiculed much like our enemy does with us. “Stupid man”, “Crazy person”, “Mad man”, “Idiot” “What on earth are you thinking?” can’t you just imagine the words and name calling from Noah’s accusers? Yet Noah trusted God through the Thick and Thin and kept building and kept trusting God’s promise of divine safety through the perils ahead.
We serve an awesome God and a Sovereign God, who doesn’t lie and doesn’t lead us astray or off track, so when the promise and the circumstances just don’t seem to jive, trust God anyway. Stand firm on the promise and claim it right down to it’s nitty, gritty fine detail and intricate workings! If God said it, believe it in spite of…. He’ll work it out through the thick and thin of it all. He’ll work it out through the impossible and all the illusive dreams that we feel we chase seemingly to the end of the rainbow. And ahh yes ~ It’s there beautiful soul, where God’s miracle awaits. The rainbow speaks of God’s covenant to Noah and future generations. It speaks of His promises and miracles and guidance. It’s what Noah saw after the the flood to cement God’s promise and rainbows of hope appear in our worlds and our hearts and our minds when God’s promises are fulfilled. Trust on now, and be at peace.
A reminder of God’s miracles and beautiful things ❤
Genesis 9:13, 14
"So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out."
Genesis 9:12 – 16
And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
A new thing? How about emerging with wings?
“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43: 19
Don’t you love it; this wonderful promise from the Lord your Holy One, Israel’s Creator and King ~ Verse 15? “I am the Lord who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea….but forget all that ~ it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See I have already begun, do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
An awesome promise from the Lord our God for us right now in this moment, this day, this month, this year. I especially like the part about the “New thing.” Don’t you? Whatever God has done in the past that rocked your world and turned it upside down with wonder and miracles and healing, is nothing compared to what He’s about to do, can do, and will do, if we just ask with a believing heart.
Little Thoughts For Big Days
So beautiful soul ~ needing something new today? I’m sure we could all use a heap of “new” and wonderful and couldn’t we handle the awesomeness of watching our Red Sea part, making a way for us to cross over into God’s promises fulfilled? Well ~ God is faithful! As He led the Israelites through the wilderness He leads us! He’s our life source, our life preserver, our provider, our sustainer, our healer, our counsellor, our Savior and our Lord. Let’s not miss the new thing He’s about to open up to us by living in past glories, victories or even those devastating past failures where it so easy to wallow and get off course. There is more than all of that ~ and our sovereign God holds it for us. Open your mind and your heart to the “New” that He has in His divine, Mastermind! Be obedient! Be trusting! Be faithful! Be hopeful and watch and pray!
Little Thoughts For Big Days
So today, as you search your heart, look around every nook and cranny with hope! Seek it through tightly, closed doors, relationships gone bad, unfaithful friends, under garbage, in a messed up world, through illness, through hardship, and through suffering! Yes, beautiful soul, go deeper with God and look deeper to find hope through all the ‘stuff’ that plays on your emotions and twists your mind with that dreadful worry. Find hope ~ God works through it! When we see ‘it’ Half empty it’s a “no-trust” mind pressure and a way that we perceive things; a game we play with our minds ~ always there for high alert ~ no rest, no peace, just doubt and worry! When we see ‘it’ “Half full” it gives a different slant to the story, ‘cuz half full is hope – ful and reason to anticipate the best of things to come for what God has in store for His own. His blessings don’t come in half empty but always full with anticipation of the next miracle for the next moment. His blessings are new every morning and His loyalty and faithfulness to His people are out of this world. His desire is to bless with the best ~ the best for you! Trust him for that and enjoy a Half -full but hopeful day with God.
Lamentations 3: 22, 24
The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore * I have hope in Him.”
Hope and Healing In Hard Places 