Hope for us

I’m a bit behind on the A to Z Challenge and I could easily breeze through the alphabet with a photo and long cutline. Photo by Diane Weidenbenner.

I want to be authentic in this challenge or why do it? Right? So, I wish to talk about hope. It’s the Easter season so if there is a time to believe in “hope,” this is it. I recently found out something hurtful and I’m having trouble getting over it.

As tiny in the universe as I am, Christ has reaffirmed with me that I matter. When I was in college, I got in a debate with a friend of mine who read a “recent bestseller” and was teaching it to friends far and wide. I knew in the very depth of my heart that the message it communicated was wrong. But, I was not a seminarian graduate like he was, and had not had professional training in defending my faith.

Honestly, I can’t remember the name of the book. I bought it because I thought it supported that we can each have a personal relationship with God. That He cares about even the tiniest details in our lives. The book, however, talked about how God was too supreme, too above it all, to care about our everyday lives, let alone circumstances and even the path that we took. I was devastated.

Since I was 12 years old, I have believed with all my heart that God has a plan for my life. That it was personal and based on the specific gifts and talents that were God-given when I was born. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

This person had gotten divorced from his wife, and felt very betrayed by everyone and everything around him. He was a Christian and the only explanation that made sense to him was that God did not care about the details of his life and that’s how his marriage and subsequent divorce happened. That it didn’t matter what choices he made – that he was on his own in life. He received salvation from believing in Christ and his resurrection but after that, God pretty much left him alone.

Fast forward to today. I’m 56 years old and I still believe in a personal God who cares about every detail. I see God’s provident hand active in many small and large ways in my life. There are verses that support this and if you’re interested, leave me a comment and I’ll give you a few that are especially meaningful to me.

Suffice it to say, I believe in a God that cares about me individually. He cares about my life choices, how I treat people, how I progress and grow in my faith in Him and others, and how I live my life so as to try and make a difference in the world and with others. I’m not saying I’m always successful. But, I believe that as long as I do my best, and God blesses it, that God will use it for good for His purposes.

Let me be clear – this has nothing to do with me thinking I’m special. It has everything to do with me being a child of God, created by God, and that God is big enough to care about each one of us, individually. I have felt His personal presence with me throughout my life. There have been times when I’ve felt far away from God. But, I believe it’s because I have walked away from God and His blessings. I don’t believe for a minute that God has walked away from me.

Care to share your thoughts about your own faith journey? I’m listening …