Have you lost all hope in your life? Do not despair. There is a way out.

Scripture

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into his grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

What is this scripture saying

What this scripture says to me is this: We must always strive to maintain our faith in the Lord, through the good and the bad times. We have been given a wonderful gift by our Lord Jesus Christ, that is no matter what, we stand in the grace of God. There is no such thing as a perfect life, nor would I want a perfect life. We all suffer trials and tribulations. That is how we grow inside, "Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character." If our lives were perfect, we could never grow. Do not think that your neighbor doesn't suffer. We don't always know others trials and tribulations.

I know from personal experience that when we reach rock bottom, it is hard to maintain faith. If you can just cling to a little seed of faith, it can and will grow inside of you. God has given us another great gift in the Holy Spirit, which tries constantly to fill us with God's love if we will let it. In times of need, the Holy Spirit will also guide us. If you truly search deep in your heart you will find and hear the Holy spirit guiding you in your prayers and in your actions. If you learn to listen, you find yourself guided away from the bad things and back toward the good things in life. When that happens, your faith starts to grow again.

As your faith grows, you find it easier to give the problems you can't control or take care of, up to God and not take them back. God turns all things Good. You just have to let Him. That is how you will persevere through all things and through that, gain back your hope. With hope in our lives, we can continue toward our dreams and our hearts desires.

My story

For those of you who read my first post, you know that I went through an extremely difficult time in the span of 2 years. I felt forced to get a divorce, lost the best job I ever had, started and may have lost a relationship with someone who seems to be a perfect match for me, struggling to keep my house, struggling to keep my car running, struggling to get a business going and the list goes on. I had reached rock bottom. I almost totally lost my faith. But I didn't. I still had that little seed inside me. That is all the Holy Spirit needed.

I am so happy now for the day that the Holy Spirit gave me no choice but to listen. It was a Sunday and I was really down on myself. I had decided I did not want to deal with people and decided I wasn't going to church that time. My children wanted to go and looked like they were going to be upset if we didn't go. I heard a little voice inside of me that said, "Why should I let my problems and bad feelings deny them their friends and God?" So, I put on my game face and we went. When the service was done, I was going to do my typical thing, go hide by my car for a while so my children could spend some time with their friends. That was just not allowed to happen this time. There is a lady who always sits behind me in church. This time, the Holy Spirit screamed at me, "TURN AROUND AND ASK HER FOR A MOMENT OF HER TIME!" It was so loud, I heard nothing but those words. There was no fighting it this time, so I did what I was told. Everything poured out of me. I told her everything I had been through and was feeling with tears running down my face. She just sat there and intently listened to me pour my heart out. When I was done she gave me a hug and I could just feel the love inside of her. She then gave me some kind words and the guidance I needed to help get my heart back in the right place.

How things are now

I can't say that things are 100%. They are definitely better than they were before by a long shot. I still have a long ways to go before my struggles I told you about are over. I can say that everyday, my faith and my hope grows stronger. I can now see the little successes that even though small, point to a brighter future for me and my children. Every spoonful of hope I receive builds up and before I know it, they will become a shovelful of hope each time. Eventually, it will become a mountain of hope inside of me through God's love and grace.

Always remember, no matter how small your faith gets, God's faith in you never wavers.