Hope and Assurance

"God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating."
–The Apostle Paul - Colossians 1:13,14 - The Message

Hope and Assurance

This website was created for those acquainted with mental illness and in need of hope and assurance.

Question of the Month

If you have a question that you would like addressed, or have comments or suggestions, please let me hear from you. Contact: carolyn@hopeandassurance.com

Well, tell me this. I pray and pray for God to change things for me and nothing happens. So, what is going on?

Well, things are happening. You can count on that. When we pray, we give God permission to work in our lives by the requests we make. God waits eagerly and patiently for us to ask Him for what we need. He desires to do all good things for us but will only move as we allow.

God works tirelessly in us, around us and through us. He prepares, woos, softens, shapes, opens, closes, invites, leads, all on our behalf and for our best. Remain alert to God’s work. Look for it. Expect it. Be open to it. Welcome it as soothing balm for your many sores. What we look for is what we will usually find.

Please, remember, God is not a magical genie of some sort that grants our wishes instantly. God understands that changing one’s circumstances changes nothing. A person’s heart must change for one’s life to be different. So, when we ask God to change things for us, He will most likely start with us. No one can change another person against their will. You can’t; I can’t and God won’t. We are the only ones who can allow our protective walls to crack and crumble and tumble down.

God ‘s wisdom is so much greater than we can ever grasp. His time is not our time. His way of doing things is not our way. His thoughts are not like our ideas. We come from a humanly self-centered and self-satisfying perspective. We want it fixed now and we want it our way. Many times, we want to feel no pain and have no changes to make.

It goes against everything in us; but, suffering can be the quickest and surest way to the heart.

God considers our past from before we were even known to our parents, our present and our future. His concerns are eternal and spiritual. He will do whatever it takes to make sure we do not miss all that He has planned for us. His love is that profound and He understands eternity is worth it all.

As we allow God to work in us, others around us will not be able to relate to us like they did before. We will be different. What drove us nuts before may have little impact on us now. Others will have to decide how to respond to this new person. The choice is theirs to make just like it is for us. Each of us has the freedom to choose our responses to God and the people in our lives.

By calling out to God for our help, we admit we can’t do what needs to be done. We acknowledge our very best efforts have created the messes we find ourselves in. We understand, as God’s Word tell us, there is no good in us without God’s intervention.

Trust is built by knowing and understanding someone intimately and personally. That happens in a close relationship over time. God desires to walk with us through our problems, as our Best Friend; the One we run to first for help and comfort. The better we know Him, the more we can trust Him as He proves His faithfulness to us again and again. The better we know His Word, the more we understand His deep love that has no conditions, whatsoever, to meet.

He’s waiting with open arms. Run to Him. Fling your tired worn out self on Him and rest. Give Him everything you have. The best. The worst. The known. The unknown. The many fears. The wonderful dreams. The horrible failures. The pent up tears. The buried anger. The stubbornness. The pride. He knows about it all and understands. He has all your tears saved in a bottle. He was there for every one of them. Nothing surprises Him. He will handle it all with utmost compassion.

He’s the One Who created you to complete the eternal purposes He had in mind for you. Nothing about you or your circumstances can be hopeless when you are in God’s hands. He works in us for loving and redeeming reasons. Because of Who He is, He can take the worst and make the best. Don’t let anybody mislead you. God is your answer and He is for YOU!