Don't Give Up

2 HOPE or not 2 HOPE In my previous “blog,” I talked about Hope.    And how important it is to our Christian walk to have this Hope that our God is a good God and we have every right to trust in His goodness.    You see, hope is the emotional energy behind our faith.    As Christians, we have often been told not to trust our emotions.    True - our emotions are easily misguided and circumstantial at best – and not straight logical facts – but they are a major part of our life and, I believe, they are given to us by God for our use. If you have ever experienced a joyful godly hope (and I sure  hope  that you have) you can probably remember that moment.    You can feel it bubbling up from inside you, exciting you, refreshing you.    It is what propels our faith into action.    When we have hope, we can reach for the stars, because our spirits have been given the energy that it needs to go forward.   But let me tell you another thing about hope – it is like any gift that God gives us

      Do you struggle with knowing what you can trust and what you can believe? Even as a Christian of many years, I wrestle with this.    I do believe that the Word of God is true; and that this truth will set the prisoner free and bring hope and healing.    However, God’s ways are above mine and I do not always know what “setting the prisoner free” looks like and sometimes it is all I can do to say with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego:    “I know that you can do this God, but even if you don’t, I will still trust in You.”   We have a God that can move mountains upon our request, but not all the mountains seem to disappear when we implore our God.    We have a God that provides instantaneous salvation, but doesn’t remove all the sinful issues in our lives at once.    What is God’s part in answering these requests and what is mine?    And I question my own motives in prayer, am I asking a righteous godly thing, or am I just looking for an easy way out? I am not alone in this strugg