Category: Finding Hope

We All Need Light

~ Barbara ~ Leave a comment

About eight months ago we had solar panels* installed. It’s been great—crank up the air, turn on the space heater, flip on the lights—it’s free! Until last month.

It was a gray, gray January. I searched my weather app for any hint of sunshine, but the only consistent prediction I saw was rain. We did not receive the power of the sun’s rays—we received an electric bill instead. Yes, there’s a point to this story but, first, let me digress.

I was disappointed in the book cover I chose for Finding Hope—it was not as sharp as I imagined it to be. I had polled friends and family for their choice out of six possibilities. Few chose the one I used. However, I noticed that each one hovered there first, then reason took over and moved them on to a brighter cover. I realized that what initially drew them was the light—glowing from the windows and shining in the sky. They saw light in the darkness and it attracted them. Since that is the point of my book, I opted for the lights and their promise of hope.

Dark circumstances and gray Januarys affect us beyond reason. We know there is a sun behind the clouds, but it’s depressing to not see it. We know there is a God of love behind our situations, but we despair when we can’t sense His presence. When we don’t absorb His light, we pay the consequences.

It is critical for us to position our sensors above the clouds and focus our faith on the Light we cannot see. The clouds will break, hope will come, and we will be found faithful because we believed despite the dreariness of our current view.

The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1

*A shout-out to Henry at Trinity Solar.

Finding Hope, 65 Meditations for a Broken Heart.

I Need Your Help!

~ Barbara ~ Leave a comment

Dear friends & strangers, your responses have blessed my heart. Thank you! Will you help me by leaving a review on Amazon? When I consider buying a book, reviews are the first thing I check—you probably do, too. If you have read enough of Finding Hope to have an opinion, would post a brief review? If you don’t yet have a copy, you can purchase it here: Finding Hope, 65 Meditations for a Broken Heart.

Today I offer a final sample, one with a perspective we all need – DAY 31.

Lord, Remind Me this is Temporary

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
Psalm 84:5

When my pain was most acute, I couldn’t imagine recovery or an end to suffering. The future mocked me, scoffing at any hint of purpose. My strength was gone, my vision dim, and my fortitude frail. At one time today’s verse was a favorite—now it challenged me with the reminder that life is a pilgrimage.

A pilgrim is someone who journeys in foreign lands. I was in a foreign land. This place of loss was untraveled territory that felt strange and threatening. The assurance that I was “passing through” was a glorious truth that prodded hope. My suffering was temporary—this was not my home, not my destiny. I was “passing through.” I was enroute to an eternal home and this valley of weeping was not my journey’s end. As I meditated on this, God gave me strength to face the days ahead.

Fellow pilgrim,  we are on a mission and the path we walk has purpose, bringing us to our final destination. When we reach our road’s end we will be free of sorrow, pain, and regret. These painful valleys are not home, not the end of our story. Our valley of tears can become a place of springs, allowing us to grow from strength to strength, not from weakness to weakness.

Holy Spirit, remind us! Keep us from pitching our tents in the valley. Help us refuse the lies of the enemy that emphasize our weakness. Protect us from the trap of fear. You are our strength and will guide us through our pilgrimage to our final destiny—and it will be glorious!

Finding Hope, 65 Meditations for a Broken Heart, page 101-102

Not for Women Only!

~ Barbara ~ Leave a comment

As you can see, men are also reading Finding Hope. In full disclosure, I admit they are family—grandson Cole, husband Rich, and son Shane. But, men and women alike, you can get your personal copy here: Finding Hope, 65 Meditations for a Broken Heart.

Thank you, my friends, for your likes and encouraging comments, with special thanks to those who shared my last post on Facebook.

Today I offer you a second sample meditation—DAY 21.

Lord, I’m Miserable

Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll—
are they not in your record?
Psalm 56:8

I knew my enemies were the unseen forces of evil, but some days I felt they were flesh and blood. Those who taunted me had names—Fear, Doubt, Self-pity, Anger, Defensiveness. When I listened to them I became cynical and afraid. As hopelessness took up residence, I internalized my thoughts and isolated myself from others. Thankfully, God saw me in my misery. Amazingly, He recorded it!

He took note of my tears and listed them on His scroll. Another wording reads, “Put my tears into Your bottle” (NKJV). The very idea defies comprehension. I am humbled to think of God gathering my tears and saving them in His bottle. He notices my pain and comes alongside me.

The Lord shares my sorrow and His tenderness comforts me. He knows my thoughts, doubts, and fears. He doesn’t need my faltering explanations—He understands the depths of my heartache and the extremity of my emptiness. He sees my broken places and my missing parts. As I surrender my anxiety and confide in Him, my sadness moves from its dark place into His light. My self-pity is deprived of sympathy and the heaviness lifts.

My sorrowing friend, we can go to Him because He loves us completely and cares for us deeply. Our tears are not unnoticed. Our Father has recorded them because we are precious to Him. He is our safe place.

Let’s agree with the psalmist, “In God I trust and am not afraid” (Psalm 56:4).

Finding Hope, Day 16

~ Barbara ~ 2 Comments

Finding Hope, 65 Meditations for a Broken Heart is now available on Amazon.

Lord, I Feel Numb

For we are God’s handiwork,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10

I didn’t feel like God’s handiwork. I was a mess. I could hardly function and certainly didn’t consider myself capable of doing good works. But how I felt didn’t change God’s plans. I was the short-sighted one, not Him. I was blindsided by tragedy that left me broken and bleeding, but God wasn’t bewildered. His plans for me preceded my pain and, rather than thwart His purposes, my brokenness merged with His design. I write this now but it took time and grace to come to this point.

If God was finished with me, I would have died with my daughter, but I’m here, walking with a limp but breathing and alive. In advance of my tragedy—in advance of my life—God prepared good things for me to do. His plans were not derailed when catastrophe barged into my life, despite what my enemy Despair told me.

So, I return to the beginning of today’s passage and confess that God loves me greatly. His mercy is rich. His grace saved me. I live in heavenly realms. The Lord’s purposes for me prevail—and therefore, so will I.

God isn’t finished with you, broken one. You are God’s handiwork and He has prepared good things for you to do—maybe not today, maybe not next week, but there is a future you cannot see. He will restore you.

Wait on Him. Just quiet yourself and wait.

Purchase here: Finding Hope