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Love Should End with Hope

  • March 15, 2021
  • Posted by: Carolyn Mahal
  • Category: Devotions
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I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. – Psalm 16:7-11

John Allen Paulos is credited with a rather interesting quote describing life.  “Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.”  It’s easy to see how many people would ascribe to that.  After all, things of the world are not designed to last or to be relied upon.  We live in a time when the world’s economy is in a precarious state, social and political unrest are creating tremendous amounts of tension, and the news has been so bad for so long we are appreciating reports that are still negative but just not as gloomy as we had originally thought they would be. 

It is a difficult time, but all is far from lost.  As you well know, the world is not spinning outside of the control of the God who created it.  He is still present and very active in His world.  And while the pundits may determine that chaos is the order of the day, the plan that God put into place thousands of years ago remains intact.  From creation to reconciliation, God remains the one constant to which believers cling all over the world. 

Hope brings a new dimension to our lives.  I am reminded of a line from the movie “A Knight’s Tale.”  The lead character Will is writing a letter to win the heart of the beautiful Joslyn.  As he and his companions craft this love letter, they are looking for the perfect ending.  Kate the farrier suggests ending it, “With hope. Love should end with hope. My husband, God rest him, told me something I’ll never forget.  Hope guides me. It is what gets me through the day and especially the night. The hope that after you’re gone from my sight it will not be the last time I look upon you.”  That’s a great line for a love letter, but as I hear it I think back to how our Heavenly Father gave us hope when He promised us His Son Jesus to atone for our sins.  God desires to be with us for eternity.  But even before that final day, His wish is to be a part of our everyday lives – leading and guiding us, helping, and blessing us to do great and mighty things within His kingdom by His strength and wisdom.  The fact that He has called us to submit our lives to Him is a clear indication of the great love He has for us.  It is his desire that we would be with Him always and forever. 

It is my prayer that our lives would be lived each day with that goal in mind; open to His abundance and striving to share it each day in our obedient submission to the will of the Lord.

 

Devotion by Richard Schumacher

LSEM Director of Programs & Services