HOPE

I want to tell you what my favorite verse is in The Bible, and why:

Zechariah 9:12

¹² Come back to the place of safety,
      all you prisoners who still have hope!
   I promise this very day
      that I will repay two blessings for each of your troubles. (Bible Gateway, NLT)

Another translation has it:

Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;

Even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. (Strive, NLT)

I have seen in history and in my own life how this is true. When I was in college a girl I was living with at the time got pregnant. I was as full of stupidity and immaturity as I was youth and indiscretion, but nonetheless I was excited about the baby! Fast forward 7 weeks in the future. A miscarriage occurred that absolutely stopped me in my tracks. I had already named the baby, told all my friends/family, and was even reading to the little guy at night. It is not melodrama or an over-statement to say that I was shaken to my very core by this loss. I was going to name him Jordan.

Fast forward again, this time almost ten years in the future. God blesses me with the care of Morgan, my beautiful boy.

Fast forward once more, again this time almost ten years. God brings Jude into my life and my heart is stretched beyond what I thought possible with a crazy, powerful love for this little one.

Yes, Jordan was taken from me; but God returned to me Morgan and Jude. I have even been blessed with two wonderful step-children!

God does not screw around, especially when it comes to His promises. To put it as plainly as I can, He freaking honors His promises. He says if you continue to have hope, He will give you back twice what has been taken, and that is the absolute truth.

History has proven that He destroys utterly those He says He will destroy. He blesses those He says He will bless. No joke.

Why is this important? Why am I sharing this with you?

Well, when you hear my stories, read of my exploits in journal entries or status updates. When you see what appears to be me acting with an unreasonable, ill-informed determination. When it just looks like I am "banging my head against a wall" and you wonder why I have not given up yet...this is why.

I simply have hope.

The way I see it, as long as God does not give up on me, I will do my best not to give up on Him.

by Jefferson Brian Holbrook