Patient Hope

Last Sunday I went to the church on post where Hubby and I were married and got to hear one of my new friends (who happens to be an Army chaplain) speak.  She gave this wonderful sermon titled "Patient Hope."  It was a really great sermon all about how difficult waiting is.  Maybe this spoke to me in particular because I am in the process of waiting on someone but nonetheless in some ways I felt like it was meant for me to hear. 

My friend, the chaplain, spoke about choosing to wait in positive ways versus negative ones and it made me think about my own ways of coping.  She talked about how some cope by keeping busier at work (a positive method) and spending time with friends and how some choose drugs and alcohol.  After reflecting I think that my coping strategies are pretty good ones but it is still hard sometimes.   I wish I had a copy of what she said so that I could post it here for all of you.

I love the idea/phrase of patient hope.  The idea of hope itself is a concept that I want to embrace.  Hope means that there is a light at the end of the tunnel regardless of how dark or long it may be.  I believe that everything happens for a reason and that everything works itself out eventually as long as you try to help yourself along the way and keep faith that God will help you.  It isn't always easy to see at the time but in hindsight I think that this has happened many times in my life. 

I know that God has a plan and I sometimes have to remind myself to get out of my own way.  I would like to further explore this idea of hope especially where the Bible talks about it.  I wish my bible had a table of contents by subject.  I'm not even sure where to look.  All week I have been thinking about the "patient hope" concept.  I have decided that I am going to try harder to be more "patient" in my waiting but I have to admit... patience is NOT always my strong suit.  

Tomorrow I get to hear my friend speak again.  I can't wait to hear what she talks about this time!