Hope that does not disappoint

I ended 2011 with a lot of questions to God about the state of my life. Had I really heard His voice when I made certain decisions? What was He trying to teach me in the time that He was clearly telling me to wait?

I was frustrated with God's timing and felt far away from His presence. There were so many areas of my life that were filled with uncertainty and I wasn't sure what God was up to.

Then one day as I was crying out to the Lord, many times literally as well as figuratively, I looked up as I was driving my kids to school and I saw a rainbow....a sign of promise.

I cannot tell you how quickly God's peace came over me. And I was reminded of when we first came to Lexington to visit, to determine if we were going to move our family yet again. On our first morning here, there was a rainbow in the sky. I smiled then taking the promise that Lexington would be a blessing to us. And it has been in many ways.

So as 2012 began, some doors that had seemingly been nailed shut last year began to open slowly and God provided HOPE. This week I have thought a lot about hope and why without it we can become discouraged and begin to despair.

Romans 5:3-6 says, "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love." WOW!

Well, let me tell you, I wasn't doing a lot of rejoicing as the year came to an end. But when I started to think about HOPE, I could more clearly see why God told us not worry. We worry because we have no hope. We worry because we lack the faith that God can handle whatever situation we face. We worry because we can't control the outcome of our circumstances.

Throughout this time God had also been pressing on me the need to trust His work in my life. And I found myself repeatedly praying, "Lord help me to overcome my unbelief." I think many Christians would not like to admit that they too sometimes fall into that category of not totally trusting God. We say it with our mouths, but it is not evident in our actions.

So I am excited about 2012! I'm trusting in God because it truly is a hope that does not disappoint.

[PHOTO]-I was so awed that I ran in the house and grabbed my camera. This is the rainbow I saw that day over our house.