Banging your foot on a solid piece of furniture in the living room and cracking a toenail may cause frustration and some wicked throbbing … BUT … it probably doesn’t qualify as … a tragedy.
A flat tire, a bad hair day, being snubbed by a once close friend … while not necessarily fun or intoxicating … none of the aforementioned circumstances should warrant a prolonged session of grief.
A tragic event involves more than just a passing inconvenience.
Hello friend and welcome to 5 Minutes of Hope.
Today’s topic is: Tragedy’s Song
Tragedy:
• a disastrous event
• calamity
• misfortune
If you are in the middle of one or have survived one, nobody needs to tell you what a tragedy is.
It is life-changing. It alters the course of your direction. It opens up a world you’ve never experienced before … unless you’ve experienced it before.
It may strike as quickly as a bolt of lightning and enter the scene as loudly as a thunder boom … leaving in its wake … destruction … devastation … disaster. Your world is turned upside down!
But listen to the poet’s take:
On the day she broke her wing
Her friends all thought
She’d no more sing
But tragedy is a funny thing
For now
She outsings them all
And if you ask her of her wing
She’ll tell you
“That’s a funny thing
It seems as though I am reaching notes
That until now
I could not sing”
Friend, God has the ability AND wherewithal to take the tragedy, heartbreak and what seems like the end … and … give us a NEW song.
But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
Genesis 50:19,20
Even the plans of our enemy to destroy us will be turned by the hand of God and GOOD will be the outcome!
Joseph’s testings, trials, and brokenness were like the loaf in the hand of the Lord. When he broke it … MANY were fed!
Dear one, your pain has purpose. Your life, my life, and ALL of our circumstances and heartache, when placed in the hands of the Master, feeds the multitudes.
Is not Christ our example? His unfathomable suffering, pain, and BROKENNESS … bought and brought salvation from sin, hell, death, and the grave.
HE was broken … WE are blessed!
If we live in an ivory tower, untouched by tragedy and adversity, how would we EVER relate to the individual who is going through the depths of grief and sorrow?
In the midst of the vice grip and chokehold of our darkest day let’s declare, “Lord, my EVERYTHING I give to you. Have Your way and shine through me!”
Mighty God, we’re not gonna lie. This sorrow and grief is nearly unbearable. But … we place it ALL into Your hands. Through us, touch and bless others who are hopeless and hurting. In the matchless name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we pray. Amen
Friend, may you be FILLED with hope today and share it with others.
Hello Friend and welcome to the official launch of our new weekly Vlog/Blog, “5 Minutes of Hope”.
We HOPE to spend these few moments together sharing an uplifting and encouraging message of HOPE and inspiration! Once this video has aired, you will be able to read the transcript in the group: “5 Minutes of Hope”. Our goal is to visit with you EVERY Wednesday at this time to share the message of HOPE!
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
Right out of the gate we want to remind you that you are NOT alone. You may FEEL all alone. You may experience loneliness at certain times in your life BUT, you are NOT alone. Now … this NOT ALONE thought has two VERY important implications.
A VERY LARGE CLUB
First, MOST of us, if not all, have known despair. You are NOT alone. MOST of us, if not all, have been discouraged and down and even depressed at times. You are NOT alone. More than a few people have had their dreams shattered before their very eyes, lost someone we’ve loved who was VERY close and EXTREMELY important to us, failed miserably after we have honestly given it our BEST SHOT. You are NOT alone!
OUR ETERNAL HOPE
Secondly, this NOT ALONE thought leads us to someone who STRONGLY desires to be a part of your life so that you are TRULY NEVER alone. That someone is my BEST friend! No, NOT a religion or a church … although a GOOD church is a GOOD thing and it’s a GOOD thing to be involved and a part of a GOOD church. No sir! No ma’am! We are NEVER ALONE for our Lord and our Savior; Jesus Christ is ALIVE and HE is the HOPE of which we speak.
He is NEVER far from any one of us and once we invite Him INTO our lives to forgive us of our sin and take up permanent residence in our hearts and lives, He does JUST THAT! Christ paid for our salvation when He hung on the cross and the PROOF that God accepted that sacrifice is when He raised Him from the dead.
WORD
The apostle Peter stated: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3
GROWING IN GRACE
Friend, let me encourage you today. Whether you’ve recently accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior or have been in THE WAY for many years … Let’s invest some quality time TODAY meditating in His Word the Holy Bible and conversing with Him in prayer.
Project: Hope
And … speaking of TODAY … what if our project TODAY was … HOPE?
This short poem is called: Project: Hope
Project: Hope
Each one, reach one, with HOPE today.
When someone asks us — may we boldly say:
“My hope is built on NOTHING less
then Jesus’ blood and righteousness”
Dear Lord, you see — a world in despair.
Our mission: spread the hope … EVERYWHERE!
Dear Father today, cause us to realize that we are not alone. We have hope because we have a living Savior living within. Help us to gladly share this living hope with others. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.
May you be FILLED with hope today and share it with others!
5 Minutes of Hope 