Not Alone in the Journey

In response to my 'Burden of Hope' post, a couple of posts back, I received the below from someone. (I hope they don't mind my sharing it.) It has meant a lot to me, not only for its reassurance that God is there and hears our hearts' cry, but also for the reminder that I am not alone in my struggle.

  On the subject of hope, I thought I’d share this little personal experience I had. 

Several years ago I was going through one of those spiritual funks that we all have to endure from time to time. I had woken up feeling blue and got ready for work. I couldn’t seem to shake this cloud that had been hanging over me for a while.  I went downstairs, set my lunchbox on the dining room table, and started my morning prayer time as I waited for my car pool buddy to come and pick me up. I started out with “Lord, is there any hope for me, is there any hope for me?” That is also how it ended. It was the only thing that was pouring out of my heart. I kept repeating it over and over and over again. “Lord is there any hope for me?” I prayed that for several minutes until I heard his truck pull into the drive. I opened the truck door, threw in my lunchbox and just as I was about to pull myself up into the seat, I heard the man on the radio say excitedly “Hey! The Lord sent me to tell you that “yes” there is hope for you!" Then the station immediately went to a commercial break. I imagine that my buddy was wondering why I was sniveling all the way on the ride to work. I couldn’t  tell you if I told him or not what had happened. I was pretty overwhelmed with emotion; knowing God had just spoken to me and that yes there is hope for me. With that being said, I still look back and wonder if I’m somehow missing something. With my poor spiritual eyesight am I not seeing what God is laying before me? I’m feeling like a race horse stuck in the gate. But I do know there is still hope and that I’m not walking alone.

I love stories of when God shamelessly speaks to us. I've got a whole journal of such instances that He has spoken to me in my life. And this is a great one. 

But, I also appreciate the honesty in confessing that, even after having received this powerful reassurance, the struggle still remained. 

Sometimes God simply doesn't give us want we want, but He will always give us what we need.

And what we need is Him.

So, even though our hearts may continue to long for something unfulfilled by this world, He will most assuredly meet us on the journey and walk beside us. Should we but invite Him to do so.