The God of Hope

Are those cobwebs I see in the corner of the page? I know it's been awhile since I've posted...over a month...and I'm feeling out of shape when it comes to blogging...but I had some thoughts to share, so here I am.

I was reading my CCD book the other day preparing a lesson for the kids when I came across this quote from Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical "God Is Love."

He says, "there are times when the burden of need and our own limitations might tempt us to become discouraged. But precisely then we are helped by the knowledge that in the end we are only instruments in the Lord's hands. This knowledge frees us from...thinking that we alone are personally responsible for building a better world. In all humility we will do what we can, and in all humility we will entrust the rest to the Lord."

There's a lot to digest there, but I love it. These days, it is so easy to become discouraged with the world's problems and burdens. Grant was telling me about the recent news on 'custom babies' and on euthanasia for terminal patients. I read in the newspaper about President Obama's recent increase in funding for embryonic stem cell research. Two high school kids in the area recented committed suicide. My coworkers' husbands are losing their jobs in the plummeting economy. Immorality. Sadness. Despair. In the midst of these, what can I do?

Simply what the pope said: Do what we can and entrust the rest to the Lord.

That's comforting. The weight of these burdens is eased by the fact that I can't solve the world's issues on my own. Only God can. I simply need to be available to Him, ready to be used in whatever way He leads. That takes humility. But it brings joy and hope and peace.

Joy, because I can find beauty and a light heart in today's blessings knowing He is in control of the future. Hope, because I serve a good God with a perfect plan for His children. And peace, because I have no need for worry when my heart is full of joy and hope.

Such were my thoughts earlier today...and tonight, when I read my daily devotional, I smiled at the Lord's timing as I read this verse:

"May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing, so that we may abound in hope by the power of the holy Spirit." -Romans 15:13