Hope has felt rather elusive this week, as I’ve been battling several puzzling and frustrating technical issues which have succeeded (so far) in locking me out of my Words of Joy blog. Yes, really.. 😦
If anything, despair has been my constant, unwelcome companion over the last few days. Despite my best efforts to resolve the matter, it remains a mystery to me. It’s also been far easier to sink with discouragement, admit defeat, rather than see the positives.
Thankfully, sharing this burden with others and getting prayer support, as well as sitting quietly with Jesus, has helped tremendously to shift my perspective.
All the same, the poem below came out of a painful place where I am learning to fight back with joy, to rest in God’s provision (I still have this place to write in – hooray!) and calmly work toward a resolution.
With a fresh measure of hope, I offer these words to you, with the prayer that you will begin to rediscover hope for yourself if it’s been a bit absent recently…
Hope manifests
We carry the world’s echo within, its resonance
stretching hope thin. Life weighs heavy as stone
and we scratch like hungry hens seeking seeds,
paw at parched ground before us – come up empty
Lifting our eyes to a larger horizon, we sense
a gentle presence like soft fronds of a feather
tickling our souls. No harsh shouting here,
no risk of being swallowed whole, of disappearing
down a black hole of loneliness. Instead,
we see Light shining in crevices, lifting gloom
with glory markers. And as we turn again
to feel its refreshing rain, Hope manifests
as the eyes and arms of Jesus, bringing
joy and comfort to weary hearts – wrapping
snug like a warm duvet on a winter’s day
We nestle within the folds of hope, held
fast, secure at last, while chaos still
reigns, but calm is now restored within,
because we are resting our souls in Him
JoyLenton2016
I’m so thankful for these grace gifts:
- God’s continual goodness and grace
- hope in life’s dark places
- supernatural calm displacing anxiety and stress
- patient endurance to get through trials
- kind friends, loving family, help at hand
- prayer support just when I needed it
- inspiration coming
- words to write
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tunes without the words,
And never stops at all
~ Emily Dickinson
Poetry Joy 
So beautiful, Joy!
Thank you, Gayl! I love how God brings beauty out of ashes, a fresh anointing of words out of our desert experiences. Blessed to see you here, my friend. Hope to stop by your site soon! 🙂
What a beautiful poem, Joy. Loved this so much:
“we see Light shining in crevices, lifting gloom
with glory markers. And as we turn again
to feel its refreshing rain, Hope manifests”
Especially the “lifting gloom with glory markers”…they’re always there, aren’t they, these glory markers? But we just need to “[lift] our eyes to a larger horizon”…oh how often I keep my eyes down…but it’s when I look up, the light pours in. You’ve captured this so well.
Hugs in your hard, hard journey…you’re bringing treasure troves out of it from our Heavenly Father.
Anna, as so often happens, God gives me words to share that I need to pay attention to as well! In remembering to lift our eyes to Him we are rewarded with a look of love, and peace and calm to replace the panic and haste in our stressed-out souls. Your presence here, and your kind support and prayers, are gift and grace to me. Keep looking for those glory markers! xo
My heart rejoices that Jesus wrapped you in His arms of hope, Joy. What a picture you have painted of how it can be sometimes. We’re like hungry hens scratching the parched ground and longing for seeds. I can just see Jesus reaching down and sprinkling His seeds of hope, love, and grace. Without Him, we are so empty, aren’t we? I hope you have a restful, hope-filled weekend! Love and hugs!
Trudy, having hope is so vital, isn’t it? I am truly thankful for inspiration and words appearing to help bless others, and for the beautiful comfort of God’s presence in the midst of problems. Now I need His wisdom and discernment to help find a way to deal with them! I love the way you describe Jesus tenderly ensuring we feed on the best seed possible. What a beautiful thought. May you also find pockets of time for deep soul rest this weekend. Blessings, love and hugs to you! ❤
Oh Joy, this runs through my heart today: “We carry the world’s echo within, its resonance
stretching hope thin.” It’s so easy for me to get swallowed into the thin hope and forget that it’s the world’s echo that I am feeling! All the while God is waiting to breathe His DEEP hope into me! I want to “nestle within the folds of hope” and look up into the eyes of my Lord. I am so thankful that you have two websites! God kept a way open for you to share His precious words with us!! I am praying for resolution to the difficulties! –Blessings and Hugs my friend!
Bettie, there have been times when I wondered if I should keep this website going, or maybe transfer it to a self-hosted platform like Words of Joy. Recent events have served to show it was best to leave well alone and still write here, especially when poetic words arrive. If this site hadn’t been available to me, I would have found it so much harder to stay positive. Praise God for making sure I still had a space in which to share my words! Your kind concern and prayers are greatly appreciated. Blessing and hugs to you, sweet friend. xo
Sorry to hear about the problems with your other blog. I hope you manage to get things sorted out. This is a beautiful poem. It is easy to drift into putting our hope in circumstances or other people but it makes a big difference when we focus on God and find our hope in him.
Lesley, you mention the key thing here: “it makes a big difference when we focus on God and our hope in him”, because the way we view life is greatly influenced by where our major focus lies. When we spend more time looking at the problems and neglect to see things from God’s perspective, then life and trials can feel overwhelming. Thank you for your kind concern re my other website. The problems there need input from someone far more tech-savvy than I am! My hope is that my son can fix it once he’s back from holiday. 🙂
Beautiful! I’m glad your technical issues are starting to restore themselves. It can be very frustrating. Today I am going to carry the image of hope as being nestled in Jesus’ strong arms. I’m going to sink into the strength and comfort that is found there and let His hope infuse every part of me. Blessings!
Mary, I am still a long way off having Words of Joy accessible to me but I am beginning to (finally) grasp what some of the problems might be! Yes, these things are very frustrating, and when life gets like this we long to retreat even more to the loving arms of our Saviour. I’m so glad you found a few nuggets here to bless you, friend. ❤
Oh, Joy, this poem rings so very true. We need the calm and peacefulness within for there seems none or so little outside and in this world. Trusting in Him Who holds the Hope is where our hearts should be. Thank you and I thank God for the creativity He placed in you.
I am sorry about your tech issues. I know them far too well too. I pray that they will be solved soon.
love you, ~ linda
Linda, I am truly sorry to hear you know about challenging tech issues far too well, too. It’s great when everything works as it should but oh so frustrating when it doesn’t! I am pleased you could relate to the “calm and peacefulness within” and its necessity in a world that’s always trying to tip us sideways. Thank you so much for being here and for your prayers! Love you, too, friend. ❤
I’m so sorry to hear of the issues with your blog. I will pray that the issues get resolved quickly. I am thankful that God moved on your heart to write these words. You have such an encouraging voice in this big internet world. You impact my life every time I visit.
Thank you, Barbie! Your kind words, thoughts and prayers mean a lot to me. Bless you, friend. xo 💜
I never considered the power of “fighting back with joy” until you articulated it so graciously. Thank you for this. When frustration finds me, daily, I will put on my boxing clothes instead of going to the refrigerator.
The enemy of our souls will always seek to discourage us and steal our joy. It’s taken me years to be able to see joy as both a conscious choice and a weapon against falling into discouragement and despair. I’ve been broken by many things, but not beyond repair. As disciples of Christ we have heaven’s resources on our side and we never fight alone. Sometimes we are called to battle through things and sometimes God asks us to simply rest in His grace, the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Because our victory over sin, pain, guilt and shame has already been secured by Him. May you seek God’s help in maintaining a positive attitude, gaining a redeemed mindset and knowing you are of infinite worth and value to Him just as you are, on the way to all you are becoming by His grace. Blessings and peace to you, friend. Thanks for stopping by! 😊