72. HOPE

  Have you ever given up hope? Are you on the verge of giving up hope? Have you ever thrown your hands up in the air, and declared, "If there truly was a great and powerful Almighty God!!- there is no way that He would allow these things to happen!!" 

  Habakkuk felt similar! His cry to the Lord is similar to many of ours! Starting with verse 2, "How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! Violence is everywhere! I cry, but you do not come to save. 3. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch al this misery? Wherever I look; I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. 4. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted."

       Does this sound familiar? How many of you have had similar thoughts and cries to the Lord!?!? Have you wondered if God isn't listening? Or has stopped listening? 

   1 Peter 3: 8-12, "Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sister. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 9. Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you.  Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and He will grant you His blessing. 10. For the scriptures say, 'If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. 11. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. 12. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and His ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns His face against those who do evil."

    God cannot and will not take away free will. He wants you to choose Him! As long as we are on this earth, and as long as there is free will, there will always be evil. As much as we don't want to see it or hear about it. What gives us the right to complain about it, if we aren't going to do something about it?!?

   We should be walking in the full Armor of God! Ephesians 6:14-17 says, "14. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. 15. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

     We need to be showing up to the devil's playgrounds, sitting on his teeter totters, and sliding down his slides. Unafraid! For we are armed with God's armor! Oh how mad that little red man would be! But there is NOTHING that he could do to us! We have received Jesus' salvation! Our God is the Highest! The All Mighty! He has already won! Leaving the devil powerless against us. The more we step out of fear and into faith- the more we can love the one's that truly need to feel the love of Jesus! Imagine the walls that would be torn down! Imagine the chains that would be broken!

    Stop being one of many many many many many whiney children! (HA! We all are in one way or another) Could you imagine having hundreds or thousands of kids crying and yelling at you all at the same time, all of the time!?!? He patiently listens to each and every one of our cries! But just as we expect our children to clean their rooms and do their chores: to teach them that they are a part of the household, and they need to do their part! God is waiting for us to do our part for the Kingdom of Heaven! We want Heaven to be packed! Let your number one goal to be to depopulate hell.

Let your hopelessness turn into hope not only for you, but for others.