There is Hope

      I want to write a bit today about Hope, and what God has been speaking to me about it.

     About two weeks ago, I was in the woods with my journal. Usually I bring my phone, but I had forgotten it at home. I realized while journaling that was probably God who had me forget because I got a pretty profound word that I know I would have been too distracted to hear if I had my phone with me. I love taking photos- and the lake was very pretty that afternoon :)

     But the word He gave me was about a change in seasons. I have felt I had been in a season of opposition, and difficulty lately. I can't put my finger on it, but to be honest, a lot of past struggles have been appearing in my life... old habits, sickness, depression... all around the same time. It was hard, and a daily fight. I am still struggling a bit with the sickness part to be honest- As most of you know I have had a thyroid disease that gives me extreme fatigue for several years. I came off my meds a few months ago, and was doing quite well until recently... but I'm not on here to cry about how tired I've been, but to boast on how amazing God is in these times that can quite often feel a bit hopeless.

     So the word was about a shift in the winds. I saw a picture of a girl trying to walk against strong winds... but the winds were so strong she couldn't go any further, and just ended up kneeling down and using all her strength not to be pushed back. God showed me that even though she was staying in the same place, she was building strength in the wind by holding herself there. It may not look like anything was changing, but she was in a season that would prepare her for the next.
   I then saw the winds change- and the wind that was pushing against her, soon became a wind that was pushing her forward. But she had a new strength in her from the season of opposition, that she went forward twice as fast- with the wind and her strength being the propelling force.
   I heard God say that this new season will be one of acceleration, and all the time we feel we've been in a dormant season would soon be changed with a rapid, fast paced season of change. Good change. Change we have been hoping and praying for, but not seeing because we've been facing opposition for so long.

   Then last week I decided to paint with God, and while painting that word came back and was my inspiration... Here is Winds of Change.

   Then last Sunday someone got up and gave a prophetic word. It was amazing as she talked about plants that had been dormant for a long time suddenly sprout up at an incredible supernatural size in a supernatural time. At the end she said "The season of dormantcy is over. It's time to get your hopes up!"

    This word was brought back to my mind this morning as I was reading Proverbs 13:12:

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life."

   I started journaling about my dreams right now. Dreams create our future. They are like little seeds God puts in our hearts to hold onto until its proper season. And you never know how long these dreams can lay dormant, or how suddenly those dreams can come into existence. But what keeps these dreams alive, is hope.

   I flipped open my Bible and my eye caught on the corner of the random section it opened to... 

It was in Jeremiah 31, and in the top corner of the page was verse 17...

"There is hope for your future."

    There is Hope.

    Hold on to hope, and don't let go.  For proverbs tells us that letting go of hope is what makes our hearts sick. But be strong in the Lord, and in the righteousness He has given us...

and we will see the dreams fulfilled. 

If that is the tree of life, as Proverbs says, then this is what we need to be eating from. 

Fulfilled Dreams.

God is a God of dreams, and my God is a big God... 

so don't be afraid to dream big dreams. 

Don't be afraid to hope.