Prisoner of Hope

Return to the stronghold, You prisoners of hope. Even today I declare That I will restore double to you. (Zechariah 9:12 NKJV)

Believe me when I say that I know what it feels like when a cloud of rain hovers over your head seemingly to never go away. The rain keeps coming and you feel as if you might drown.

This is not so. God has not left you nor has he forsaken you.

Even as the nights grow long and it may seem as if the sun will never shine, keep holding on to God’s love and truth. Nothing surprises the Lord at all. Call out to him in your despair, through your tears heard, seen as well as unseen.

We will face some hardships in this life. Some emotional and some physical. It is by faith and hope that we must continue to trust the Lord.

Blind faith.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 NKJV)

If we trust the Lord Whom we have yet seen with our natural eye to save us from an eternity of damnation to live forever with him in heaven once we repent and receive salvation, He surely will be with us and come to aid when we cannot see the outcome of the turmoil we are enduring.

The mind is a battlefield. We must be careful of the things we allow to filter…. TRUTH or LIES. Allow righteousness to fill you and cover the wounds of words and actions that attack you with doubt.

Let’s take a little look about Abraham shall we.

Abraham Justified by Faith

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. (Romans 4:1-4 NKJV)

The Promise Granted Through Faith

For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, I have made you a father of many nations ) in the presence of Him whom he believedGod, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, So shall your descendants be.

And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarahs womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. (Romans 4:13-25 NKJV)

Wow, now if this is not an encouragement next to eternal salvation, what is?!! ( though there are many examples and testimonies of the mighty works from the hand of the Lord to think on as well as share with others ) There is NOTHING that is impossible for God to step in and fix. Nothing.

I say this to you out of encouragement and my by own experience and testimony: It is better to just step back and wait on the the promises of the Lord to manifest. Always remember that manifestation may not come in the way that you want it to, so be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading. Just a simple yet profound word of encouragement through a song, scriptures that you just happen to see in the Bible or elsewhere or even through someone you least expect are signs that God hears you and that he is following up on promises he cannot go back on.

No matter how long the wait may be, holding out in the strength of the Lord and not that of your own will be so much more beneficial.

You never know just how much you can learn and grow from waiting through hardships.

“Thank you Lord for anchoring my soul even when doubt, stress, tears of the unknown and unseen could not be seen. My trust is in You and You alone. The natural man easily wants to rise up for instant gratification to feel better but when our HOPE is steadfast and immovable, trusting you for the outcome of your spoken promises and blessings….. sitting at Your feet in silence and meditating on your goodness and mercy as well as calling out to you with an uplifted voice of thanksgiving and praise just for being the head of my life is and should be good enough for me. May we all look to you O Lord even when we take matters into out own hands and repent. May we ask you to take over and remove us from ourselves because no greater peace is found while waiting than in You. ~ Amen.”

My brothers and sisters in the Lord, be encouraged while you wait. Let your Hope be a Godly hope and not that of the world. Let it be justified by your faith in Him Who is able to keep you from falling. ❤