A Little Thing Called Hope

Sometimes in life we face struggles. When we are young, we have mom and dad to lean on. Now granted the struggles we faced as a child in no way compare to what we face on a day to day as an adult.
      Sometimes as an adult we face problems we never see coming. My personal example is the sudden loss of a job. You get that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach and then worry and despair sets in.  You wonder how are you going to make ends meet.  The one thing that keeps you going is hope.
    You can look at hope 2 ways. You can hope everything works out or you can have hope that it will work out.  I prefer the latter.  All through my life I have been taught about hope.  Hope is not merely wishing. Hope is putting your faith out there while waiting for the payoff.  Now we can put our faith out there but without works faith is dead. So I'm taking this out of that statement. In order for hope to work I have to do something shape the outcome. I have to provide some legwork.  I personally believe that these are the times God tests our resolve and faith. With true hope some action on your part is required. Sometimes it's just simply believing. Such is the example with my faith in Christ. I don't have to do much but I have to believe.  Christ is my hope.  Sometimes with hope a lot of work is required. With my example some legwork of phone calls along with emails and visit to prospective employers was needed. Sure I could simply believe that someone would call and offer me a job. I think that belief would be misguided.  God does work in mysterious ways.  I just believe that sometimes God expects us to work because of our faith.  I have a hope that I don't go hungry or lose my house. I have a hope that bills will be paid and the lights stay on. That being said I have to work for that hope. We don't have control over the variables. We don't control the economy and layoffs happen. All we can do is what we can do. 
     After some prayer over my job situation, I made 4 interviews yesterday. My hope was that at least one of them panned out.  Well as it happened 3 of the 4 turned into job offers on the spot. I also received a call after I got home with another offer.  My point is don't lose hope no matter how gray the skies seem. The sun will shine again.