Hope

There is a great truth to be learned by all who ever experience suffering and hardship which threatens to break their souls, hearts and minds.  The bad may get really, really bad.  But when the good comes it is obvious what is before one’s face.  There is no mistaking it, and there is no lack of appreciation or gratitude for the blessing that is given.

With that being said, what a wonderful few weeks we have had!  There were definitely times over the past several years that I wondered if we would ever experience any relief from the bipolar beast.  And now, here we are!  My husband is trying so hard, and so am I.  We are working together as a team to try to be better people in Christ.  Granted, neither of us are perfect…we are quite a way from there, folks!  Yet, we are refusing to sit stagnant in our unhealthy comfort zones.

I know from whence our help has come.  I know completely with every bit of what makes me who I am.  I know, beyond all doubt, that we could not have survived the struggles that come with bipolar disorder without God.  And, it makes me so heartbroken and remorseful for all of those who do not know that this help is there.  It hurts me to the core to know that there are people out there suffering without hope. 

Hope – it is a strange thing.  When I could not hope that my husband would ever become stable because my human nature could not trust him, I trusted that God had me in His hands.  When I could not hope that we would ever get past all of the pain, I had hope in the Heavenly Father because I knew that He would never cast on me more than I could bear.  Hope in God was all I had because I dared not trust to hope in anything or anyone else.  Too much pain, too much betrayal, too much hardship will do that to a person.

So, I lift a prayer for all that are out there without the hope of Christ.  I pray that you will find that hope by finding the One who gives it.  He holds you in his hand, too.  And while I am altogether unique and special to God, you are as well.  He loves me no more than He loves you.  Jesus Christ literally gave the ultimate sacrifice through His death so that you and I could have hope and life everlasting. 

The pain of this Earth is temporal.  It will not last forever, even if we never have another good day again for the rest of our lives here.  This life, however, is only the beginning.  We will all live for eternity and our souls will never dim.  It is merely a question of where that eternity will be spent; in glory with God, or in Hell.  I lift another prayer that we all see that death is only a transition from one form of living to another – and that we all choose whether or not to take the path that can give us hope in this life and the next.