Run
faster, got to run faster, got to hurry!! It’s coming closer! I
can’t get away from it. I might as well just give up. I’m such a
loser. I can’t do anything right. I should just end it all!!!
Darkness
whispers, “Go ahead and end it. You are such a failure. You are so
worthless. The world would be a better place without you.”
Still,
small voice beckons, “No, you are not any of those things. Don’t listen to
those lies. You are beautiful. Come this way, towards the light. I’m
here, and I want to help you. I am Hope.”
Who said
that? Where are those voices coming from? I’m so confused. I
hear a voice agreeing with me, but then I hear another voice saying I’m
beautiful? I don’t know what to believe anymore. Life hasn’t been
good for a while. If there is hope, why haven’t I felt it before?
Why now when I’ve decided life isn’t worth living, should I believe there is
hope?
Darkness
lies, “You’re only confused because you have made a miserable mess of your life,
you don’t deserve hope ... ”
Still
small voice interrupts, “Lies, don’t listen to those lies. Please let me
share the Truth of the matter with you. I love you. Yes I know it’s
been awhile since you’ve heard anyone say that to you, and if they have it feels
like just words, but I do truly love you. I love you so much that I’ve
wanted to help you for a long time. The reason you haven’t been able to
feel Hope before is because the darkness surrounding you has tried to keep you
from me. But, I am stronger than the darkness. I want to be your
friend.
Be my
friend? Someone wants to be my friend? Who are you? What do
you want from me? Everything comes with a price these days, so what is it
your looking for? And as far as love goes, well I stopped believing in
love a long time ago.
Still
small voice answers, “I honestly don’t want anything from you but to be your
best friend and for you to come to love me in return. I know right now
that you aren’t able to believe in love but I am Hope and with Hope comes
friendship. The price has already been paid in full. Hope won’t cost
you a thing.”
How can I
believe that hope won’t cost a thing? What is Hope anyway? And besides ... Yikes
what’s that nipping at me again? Oh not the pain again ... Pain so full of
pain, my heart hurts from all the pain I’ve been going through lately. The
only way out of this pain is to put an end to myself. Then the misery will
be gone.
Darkness
creeps up, “Come here, I’m not letting you go without a fight.”
Still
small voice reaches, “Wait that pain can be cured. I will take that pain
from you. I will fight for you. I am stronger than the pain.
Please let me help. Come here my weary child and I will give you rest.
My yoke is easy. And as for Hope, well Hope is what carries us through the
trials of life. Hope is all those things you’ve ever believed could happen
for you in life. I am Hope.”
Well if
you are hope, then why weren’t you there when mom died? Why weren’t you
there when my wife left? Why weren’t you there when I couldn’t find a job?
Why weren’t you there when I cried until there were no more tears to cry?
Why weren’t you there when the courts said I couldn’t see my kids? Why
weren’t you there when my world started crumbling around me? Why are you
here now, when I have nothing left?!!
Darkness
snickers, “Yeah where was hope then?”
Hope
patiently answers, “I have been right beside you through it all. I have
never left you nor forsaken you. I hurt when you hurt. I can relate
to all your pain. I want to show you how to get past that pain. I
want to heal you. I never wanted you to experience all the things you
have. See what you don’t realize is that there is one who seeks to devour
you. And with my help I can give you all the hope you need to push forward
and to move away from the past. Won’t you give me a chance?”
Darkness
spews, “Are you really going to listen to all of that? I mean if He really
cared about you, then you wouldn’t have lost everything!
Go away!
Just go away! You keep trying to get me to doubt this Hope but what you offer me
is nothing but death. Hope is saying He wants to heal me. Hope is
saying He will help me get past my past. No one has ever offered to do
anything for me before. No one has cared before. It’s the only
chance I have left ... so Hope? Who are you?
So, you’ve
made the choice to come and find out who is Hope. I am so absolutely
delighted!
Who is
Hope and what can Hope do for you? Well it’s all pretty simple but often
seems more complicated. Hope is the Way the Truth and the Life. Hope
wants to help you heal because Hope knows what you can truly be. Right now
your sitting there so distraught with everything and thinking of how you can’t
seem to succeed at anything. Maybe your finances are out of whack.
Maybe you’ve lost the one person or thing you cared about most. Maybe
you’ve seen things in this world that no one should have to see. Maybe
you’ve been hurt in ways that no one should have to hurt. Hope knows where
you have been and what you have been through. Hope has already seen every
choice you’ve ever made, and Hope has been there beside you through it all.
Hope will never leave you nor forsake you. Hope loves you.
Yep
there’s that word again? Love ... well Hope loves you so very much that He
gave up His life for you. Bet you didn’t know you had friends like that
huh? Well you do. Hope is a friend who died for you so that you can
continue on in just these times you are facing. Hope doesn’t want you to
give up. Hope wants you to let Him help you. Through Hope the sins
of the past can be washed away, and you can become a new creature.
There’s
more to who Hope is. As I stated earlier, Hope is the Way. The Way
you are being offered is a direction towards healing and getting past your
problems. Hope is assuring you there is a reason to live. There is a
brighter tomorrow. Following Hope will lead you to all that you will ever
need. The path Hope will lead you on is one that is eternal. Hope is the
Way to salvation and redemption.
Hope is
the Truth. Truth sometimes hurts because we want someone who will tell us
all the nice things we want to hear, but Truth tells us everything good and bad.
Truth will never hurt you. Truth wants nothing but good things for you.
Sometimes it’s easy to blame Truth for things that go wrong or happen. But
that’s because you may not be getting the results you want or expect. I
know right now it seems as if it would be easier to just quit forever, but since
Hope is Truth, then I’m going to be truthful with you. It isn’t. The
choice you make now is a lifetime choice. Either you take away something
that isn’t yours to take, or you can give Hope a chance and let Hope help you
find the Peace you deserve.
And Last
Hope is Life. Life that will bring you Hope forever. I know your thinking
Life doesn’t sound too grand right now. But that’s because you are looking
at Life through your eyes and not through the eyes of Hope. Life through
the eyes of Hope is so very different. I want to share with you what Life
through the eyes of Hope looks like. It looks like a butterfly sitting on
a flower. It looks like a child running through a mud puddle.
It looks like a beach lit by the rising sun. It looks like a heart filled
with joy on a day when it rains nonstop.
Life is
what is awaiting you through the promises that Hope has given. Those
promises include a new Heaven and Earth, no more tears, and most of all
Eternity. This world is truly not our home; it is just a temporary stop on
a journey that ends in Life. Hope is what sustains us in this world, as
when we do get Home, everything we have hoped for will become ours.
Won’t you
continue on with Hope? Give Hope a chance? Hope really does have
something good for you. Hope really wants to show you that tomorrow is a
new day, and one that is filled with new beginnings. Won’t you come and
see what Hope has to offer?
Here you
are. Coming to check out what Hope has to offer. I’m glad you have
chosen to do so. Let’s continue shall we?
Imagine
yourself walking down a road. On the right side everything looks dark and
dead, and on the left side everything looks bright and alive. Then ahead
sits a mountain and the road split with a pathway to the right leading further
into darkness. But, to the left is a sunlit pathway that looks so inviting
and beautiful. Hope lives down the Lighted pathway. Hope is offering
for you to join Him on that pathway.
Are you
wondering why Hope is offering anything to you? The answer is that He is
doing so because He loves you. Uh huh? I know what you are
thinking ... there’s that love word again. But it is true. Hope does love you.
In fact, Hope loves you so much that He is offering to help you, to heal you,
and to give you a new start. And what is more, He is offering this to you
at no cost. The price has already been paid in full.
If your
sitting there thinking that Hope wouldn’t be offering you anything if He knew
the horrible things you have done, your wrong. Hope wants to help remove
all the guilt and blame you may be feeling towards yourself regarding these past
missteps. Hope is offering to cleanse you of the past forever. Hope
wants to show you how to take the past and use it to help someone else, instead
of you continuing to use your past to beat yourself up over and over again.
I know it’s been awhile since you’ve felt joy and
happiness, but the feeling is still there. It’s just been suppressed inside of
you. It’s been surrounded by all the emotions that have been controlling you.
Hope is offering to help you find that joy and happiness. Hope can renew your
life and help you see that there is a way. With Hope all things are possible.
A new beginning waits for you. A chance to put all of the past behind and to
start fresh. This includes everything you feel is a reason not to continue. But,
Hope knows what is waiting for you, and wants you to come see. Starting over may
seem scary but it’s truly better than the choices you have been contemplating.
Hope will not hurt you. Hope will only serve you.
You may be asking what will make a new beginning better than the old life you’ve
been living. The answer to that is that Hope will be with you on this new
journey.
Have you ever had a pair of jeans that you liked so much that you wore them
until they had holes in them? Then you patched the holes so that you could wear
the jeans just a bit longer? Until one day those old jeans finally couldn’t
withstand any more wear and they fell apart. Then you had to go out and purchase
a new pair of jeans.
This is similar to what Hope is offering to you. Hope has seen the wear and tear
that you’ve been through. Hope has seen the toll your past has taken on you.
Hope has seen how you have tried to patch up your life time and time again. Hope
knows that you deserve a new beginning. Hope is now offering to make you a new
creature in Him.
The
Healing Hand of Hope has placed His offering before you. When we met a bit
earlier, there seemed to be no way out, and you were about to give up.
Hope has now shown you that there is another choice.
Come let’s
go together and see how to take that step. I can assure you the journey is
about to begin not end.
Won’t you take a step towards Hope?