Hope, Etc.

Over the last few weeks I've encountered several patients through my job that are in situations that just scream "hopeless". It's hard to see an end or a way out for them. My many ideas and resources have run dry, or so it seems. I've spent moments in my car, prior to these home visits trying to gather the courage to face them because it feels overwhelming, and I feel unsure of how to help.

It's those days when there are no answers. The days when efforts feel as though they have been useless because nothing has even slightly improved. The days when hearts feel like they cannot possibly break anymore than they already have. At the end of those days, I often drive home wondering whether or not I did enough, or if I am really cut out for this "helping profession" called nursing. 

And I'm reminded that I've prayed "Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours". I'm also reminded that it's not just my heart breaking. And Jesus reveals himself through these people in beautiful ways. Through all of this I'm reminded of my own brokenness. So my heart continues to break, and I battle the hopelessness, discouragement and disillusionment that tries to come hand in hand with that on those harder days.

It's in the quiet moments, where I'm still, and leave room for God to speak that I hear the words "have hope". Through Hebrews 6:18-19, I am gently reminded of the hope we have through Jesus. A sure, steadfast hope regardless of the seasons, circumstances, and the pain. I give thanks, because I can be hope-full. 

(Photo by Bethel)

Because, even when it seems hopeless, God is there. Emmanuel, God with us. God is always moving, working, and has a plan for all of our lives. The whole entire world is in his hands. God works through us and our mess, and is never overwhelmed or afraid of it. Thankfully so! And somehow he touches others' lives through our own broken ones. Hopelessness has a way of blinding us to the beautiful ways in which God is working, and lately I have been feeling a little blind. Or, maybe a lot blind. Hope helps us see the unseen, and the eternal and not just through the circumstantial lens that points to impossibilities. Because more often than not, I only see the statistics, the impossible, and forget that our ways our not his ways.

It's in these moments that I have often needed friends to remind of me of the work being done in and through my life, and be encouraged by how God is working in their own lives. It's really amazing to magnify God's goodness in each others' lives, to be encouraged, refreshed, and experience renewed hope. We need one another within the context of community. We need hope.

Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up...

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (ESV)

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:23-25 (ESV)



Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without words
And never stops at all
~ Emily Dickinson