Fully Equipped With Hope

Hope is hard to come by, we may think, as we navigate life’s tough seasons and circumstances. I have learned that there is so much hope found in the promises of God. Not simply in the ideas of his promises but in the very real stories of his provision and providence for his beloved children that can be found countless times in his Word. I believe that God wants to take you and me to new places, new places in our hoping. He wants to bring us up from the deep and desolate places to the highest places, where His spirit dwells and presence swells. God’s desire for you and I is to take us to unimaginable heights in this life. I have learned that in all things, his desire is that we experience his fullness in glimpses and doses on this temporal earth, as it is in heaven. There is eternity set in the hearts of man it says in Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.”

But I would be dishonest if I said that the journey to experiencing Heaven on earth is an easy one (at least not for me.) I have learned from personal experience that there is both trial and triumph in surrendering our lives to Jesus. When I began to truly walk out a surrendered life, I lost friends, I was “single as a pringle” as they say with a longing to be a wife, I was in the darkest and loneliest moments of my adult life. But all at the same time, I was quickly surrounded by people with a similar calling of total surrender. I was able to embrace and find contentment in my season of singleness and I was able to embrace my identity and find true joy in chasing after the dream that God had placed in my heart.

Here’s a little secret that I hope will encourage you on your journey. God knows the journey to that height is difficult. Because of that, he gives you great Fatherly advice in the scripture. He calls you and me to command our spirits and our minds and our bodies, as we walk with him. He continually transforms and charges us to be FULLY EQUIPPED for the journey ahead. So, remember this: “Your trials are not trivial they are designed for testing your tenacity.”

Not only does God equip us THROUGH our trials, but he provides us WITH assistance. Though we may slip and fall along the paths up and down the journey, trying to get to His highest heights, we never walk alone. God sends a helper to hold our hands. The Holy Spirit walks with each of us to the Highest heights of our purpose and destiny.

Though at times it may seem like you’re alone and the difficult terrain is too much for you, know that God is with you and He calls you to keep your eyes not on the promise of the Highest Heights but rather on the one who is the High priest above it all. He redirects you to the hope found only in the person of Jesus. He has made you for this journey and he’s equipping you with all that you need to finish. #youarecrowned and FULLY EQUIPPED for the journey with hope to help you along the way!

I leave you with this passage to encourage you. It may look like you are surrounded, but hold on, He will take you to the highest heights.

“Though the fig tree does not blossom And there is no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive fails And the fields produce no food, Though the flock is cut off from the fold And there are no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will [choose to] rejoice in the LORD; I will [choose to] shout in exultation in the [victorious] God of my salvation! The Lord GOD is my strength [my source of courage, my invincible army]; He has made my feet [steady and sure] like hinds’ feet and makes me walk [forward with spiritual confidence] on my high places [of challenge and responsibility]. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.”

HABAKKUK 3:17-19 AMP