The struggles of 2020 pale in comparison to the battle tested strength of a mother. Mothers have years of experience dealing with fear, worry, social limitations and life altering choices – they’ve been trained in handling social upheaval, judgment calls, merciful dealings, and instructional guiding. The hard-knocks of Motherhood doesn’t end when the child leaves home – it intensifies. The days of surrendering our temper, our shortcomings and our worries, become days of surrendering our will, our expectations and our grown child.
This post isn’t about motherhood – it’s about reaching deep into the battle grounds of previous life lessons and gripping onto Hope.
Is anyone else feeling a little uneasy about walking into the year 2021? For most of us, 2021 has left us feeling bruised, tired, and uncertain. To write about all the struggles feels exhausting – the struggles we’ve experienced span the globe. When I ponder years past, the joys and hardships – motherhood has taught me that unexpected joys and struggles will never cease and Covid-19 is just another example of us needing to lean into Jesus more and more with each passing year.
Anything could happen.
When I read that sentence, I am instantly standing at a crossroads. In one direction, the road is dark and I can feel the weight of dread and anxiety, with hovering trees blackened with fearful shadows and screeching vultures. Anything could happen feels fearful and I’m bracing myself to endure the pain. In the other direction is a path that has a gradual slope upward, it’s lit with the noon-day sun; bright and warm. With terrain easily navigated and adorned with wild fruits that hang heavy with sweet juices. I can feel Anything could happen is an adventure worth climbing with anticipation of beautiful sights.
Anything could happen is an invitation to see and walk the road of Hope.
Jay Y. Kim (Pastor of Westgate church), wrote in his article, “An Expectant Leap”:
This is what Christian hope looks like. It doesn’t ignore fear, anxiety, and doubt; it confronts them. It holds steady, clinging to peace in the midst of chaos. Through life’s many treacherous storms … Christian hope is buoyed by something greater that has happened and something greater that is going to happen again.
As we walk into 2021, I hope you’ll ponder Anything with joy and expectation from a Father who loves you perfectly. A Father who eagerly wants to guide you through a beautiful path where you’ll grow strong and experience His nourishing blessings. A Father who knows what lies ahead in 2021 and is holding out a hand for you to see and walk In and With Hope … Jesus is our Hope, because of what He did and because of what He is going to do. We can be sure of His promises and leadership because we’ve seen Him work in our past trials and victories … He is a Father that never fails us, never leaves us, and walks with us through every struggle, regardless of time, situation or choice we’ve made.
Friend, anything could happen. Let’s choose to see and be willing to navigate into Hope, a path filled with Jesus’s blessings! I hope you can whisper the words, anything can happen, with excitement for the new year; secure in the fact that your needs are being watched over and provided for.
Anything can happen! I wait with you, anticipating the goodness of Father.
♥
