Hope is Alive

God is real. Hope is alive in Christ.

Those following my journey know that my heart has been guarded for a long time. I hadn’t dated in almost ten years after coming out of an abusive relationship. After becoming a Christ-follower, I learned more about who I am – as God’s child and who He says I am, instead of listening to Satan’s lies.

I have been building on my relationship with God, learning to make better decisions (making decisions at all is a huge accomplishment), and more about myself, such as my favorite things. God also helped me set and achieve some incredible goals I never had in mind.

I have not hidden my story but allowed God to use it to help others. This blesses my life immensely and takes the edge off the painful experiences. I can testify to the fact that God is a Redeemer.  

I didn’t know if God was preparing someone for me – but a while back, I began to have hope that He was. A few years ago, God connected me with a woman in Florida named Dana, who is a counselor for women who have been abused. She had her own story to share – but what stuck with me is that she also told me there was hope. She had re-married a wonderful man who respected her, and she wanted me to know there were still good, godly men in this broken world.

Even though, for anyone who asked, I was not looking for a man, I realized in my heart that if God had someone for me, He would need to put them in my path and show me. It couldn’t be of my own doing but rather something of God beyond the shadow of a doubt. He did just that. Every step of the way, God has been abundantly clear with confirmations. Even when the enemy tried to steal my joy with doubts and fears – God restored peace in my heart and supplied a patient, prayerful companion to help me through it.

Hope is essential to our journey. It provides the ingredients needed for perseverance on our walk with Christ.

Through Faith Walk Ministries and the care group I lead, the Sister’s Circle, God allows me to share this hope with other women survivors, as Dana did for me. As you may have noticed, I have a new name – but more than that – I am excited to share that I have a wonderful new husband who respects me, loves Jesus, and prays with and for me…just a few things from my laundry list of requirements I told God about a few years ago.

The Bible supplies a filter for character traits to seek – I Cor. 13:4-8. If you have not read this lately, please do, but I will give you a few of them: Love is patient and kind; it does not envy or boast; it is not rude or arrogant and does not insist on its own way…love bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things.

There is hope. God redeems.

If you know anyone who could receive help from the Sister’s Circle support group, please share this blog and the link above for information about how to sign up.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13, English Standard Version, Emphasis added).