Category: Finding Hope

Clouds and Sunshine*

~ Barbara ~ Leave a comment

Looking Up, 3

There are days when cloud cover hides the sun, causing me to feel chilly and a bit blue—but the sun still shines. Its presence and function do not depend on whether or not I see it. Clouds change nothing but my mood and perspective.

The answer to fading hope is not found in solved problems but in changed focus. God is on His throne, even when my understanding is clouded. In a powerful, active realm, higher than the world we see, One is ruling who knows every rock, root, and danger in our present path. He knows how long the trail is, how steep, how rocky, how narrow. He knows every turn in the road and where resting places and refreshing streams are found. God is attentive to our walk and holds our hand when we face obstacles. He is not too weak or tired to intervene. More than that, He has a purpose for that path and knows where it leads. He alone sees the end from the beginning. And He does all things well, always. …

When we move our focus from our problems to the God who loves us, hope revives. When we restrain our emotions and remove them from their lead position, we defeat despair. When we steadfastly maintain there is sun behind the clouds, our step lightens.

Hold your eyes higher than your earthbound problems and look at the One who is above it all—you will find hope.

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.
Isaiah 40:28

*Taken from I Was Broken, Too, Four Paths to Restore Hope, by Barbara Higby, page 24-25.

Keep your Eye on the Bell

~ Barbara ~ 2 Comments

Nine-year-old Zoe surprised me when she said she wanted to attempt the rock-climbing wall. I watched her harness up, admiring my granddaughter’s adventurous spirit. Once secure, she started the climb but didn’t get far when she began to struggle. Flailing, she finally pushed off and eased the rope to let herself down. Her face wore defeat and her lower lip quivered as she listed all the reasons she didn’t make it to the top. The footings were uneven, the wall grazed her knee, she got confused where to step next and which rock to grasp. We stood back and watched others nimbly climb the wall and ring the bell at the top, proclaiming their success. I knew Zoe would try again.

This time she scaled the wall easily and grinned down at me when the bell rang out her victory. Once her feet were back on the ground, I asked her why she succeeded this time. “I didn’t look at the footings at all and I shook it off when I hit the wall,” Zoe said. Then she added the zinger, “I just kept looking up at the bell.” Zoe learned a lesson that day that extended beyond a rock-climbing wall.*

Obstacles, insecurities, and fear are glaringly visible and hard to ignore. But God offers us a way to move past them that requires simple action but determined willpower. Isaiah gives us the key in chapter 40, verse 26:

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens.

In essence he’s saying, take your eyes off your problem and look up at your Creator. Let your focus be on the Problem-Solver, not on the problem. This simple action will change your perspective, raise your spirit, and give you hope.

*Taken from I Was Broken, Too, Four Paths to Restore Hope by Barbara Higby, page 20.

Ascension Day: Moving Up

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Have you done your Ascension Day shopping? Bought a new outfit? Purchased gifts or planned a special dinner? Me either. But when I grasped the door handle of a restaurant in Lancaster last week I stilled, surprised and pleased to see the day being honored.

 In all my many years, I can’t recall seeing a sign announcing Ascension Day, let alone closing a business to celebrate it. I do remember going to church as a child but, sadly, today it is seldom mentioned, let alone honored.

We celebrate Christmas and Easter for their life-changing significance but, Ascension Day? We let it slip by even though it points to the most profound, life-changing event we will ever experience.

On that day in history, Jesus’ ascension fulfilled prophesy, but it  also pointed to the future. Those watching Jesus ascend heard these words of promise in Acts 1:

“This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven,
will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”

The Messiah was born. The Messiah was crucified. The Messiah will come back—the same way He left, on the clouds. Ascension Day commemorates Jesus’ return to His Father and His rightful place on His throne, but it is more than that it. Ascension Day celebrates the promise, the assurance, the certainty of His return. It points to our ascension, when we will join Him in the sky and He will bring us home.

The Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God…
We who are still alive… will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
Then we will be with the Lord forever. 

So encourage each other with these words.
I Thessalonians 4:16-18 NLT

Happy Ascension Day!

Bird Food

~ Barbara ~ 2 Comments

In anticipation of Tuesday night’s snow storm, my husband took steps to assure the birds would be fed. In the dark, before a flake fell, he filled our feeders with seed and hung a second peanut butter log.

The following morning the predicted snow was falling and, though it came down in heavy flakes, the birds were more active than usual. Cardinals, juncos, and sparrows swooped and flitted in a symphony of activity, picking up seeds and pecking at the peanut butter. It was a show to behold—and we pulled up chairs to watch.

As I reflected on my husband’s forethought to provide for our feathered friends, Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:26 came to mind:

“Look at the birds of the air;
they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”

Just as we noted last week that God is present when all looks gray, He is also present when storms come and He lovingly provides for us. We need not be anxious.

After He points out God’s care in feeding the birds, Jesus asks the disciples—and us—a question,

“Are you not much more valuable than they?”

He invites us to trust our heavenly Father.

Finding Hope, 65 Meditations for a Broken Heart.