My Sunday morning was spent nestled under a blanket, watching Curious George and playing with trains. On Friday, Joseph developed a sudden cough. We are always cautious because of his sickle cell, and when he had a rough night, we took him into the doctor the next day. He was diagnosed with pneumonia. He is doing really well and I think we caught it early, but right now his little body needs to rest.
So, I’ve been thinking about rest. (I’ve written about it before here.)
Whenever Joseph gets sick, my heart has a hard time resting. I struggle with worry and what-if’s and worse-case scenarios. I plead with God and sometimes, I’m angry with him. Mostly, though, I’m just sad. I stay up at night rubbing Joseph’s back, running things through my mind. There is never enough rest for a worried mommy.
I wonder what it would look like if I could be free from my worry. I think there may be an answer nestled in Psalm 62: hope.
Yes, my soul. Find rest in God. My hope comes from him.
In the midst of my darkest fears nestled deep in the recesses of my heart, could I find hope? And from that, could I find rest? The book of Romans is a book full of hope.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Hope sounds so great in the abstract, but when we really need it, it’s so elusive. It’s a nice idea, but it’s not real. Not logical.
But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?
Maybe our broken hearts guard themselves from hope because hope opens us up to the possibility of hurt. To hope is to relinquish control and place faith in a mystery we can’t understand. To hope is to believe that even in the broken, there is beauty.
To find hope is to find rest is to find freedom.
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This part of 31 daily posts of living free. Living freely is something we do momentarily, but to fully live free? That’s a transformation — a total change not only in what we’re like, but in who we are. You can find all the 31 Days of Living Free posts here.
many sparrows 
Its so easy to trust God … until something goes wrong. I think the hardest is trusting out children into His care, and letting go ourselves!
It is such an act of faith to relinquish control when it comes to our little people. I always have to remind myself that God loves them infinitely more than I ever can…and I love them a whole awful lot. Thanks for commenting!
“Maybe our broken hearts guard themselves from hope because hope opens us up to the possibility of hurt. To hope is to relinquish control and place faith in a mystery we can’t understand. To hope is to believe that even in the broken, there is beauty.
To find hope is to find rest is to find freedom.”
Excellent.
I can understand those emotions. Fear. Anger. Sad. I’m glad loves us when we are weak. He is strong when we are anything but.
I love “To hope is to believe that even in the broken, there is beauty.” I have really been struggling with this lately. To really let go of all the “what if’s” and fall completely into the arms of Jesus. To hope, to dream, to believe. And to entrust the rest to Him. Thank you so much for this.
Jessica, those are beautiful thoughts. Thanks for sharing!
Be joyful in Hope is something that is so true. If we can find joy in the journey as we patiently wait upon God, we will be blessed in our afflictions! Thanks for sharing!
Hope was “my word” last year, and Romans 15:13 has become a life verse for me! 🙂 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Love that!
Sometimes hope is all we can hold on to and trusting in God’s plan for our lives!
Wonderful reminder of who our strength comes from ❤
Learning to trust God in the midst of my struggle…rather than just after when things are back to being good…is something I have been working on over the last several months. There are times when I have lost hope, but whenever I chase after God, hope is found!