A Morning Cup of Hope

A Morning Cup of Hope

By: Angel L. Murchison

Each day I wake up to hear the familiar sounds of airplanes flying above, the birds chirping, the cars hustling as my open window allows the noises of the world in.

Most mornings I immediately begin to think of the day ahead and the million things needed to be done. Today is different, it is a new day, a new season, another new beginning….I find tucked away in my morning devotional a wedding card I had purchased for a couple that was married last summer. Somehow I had never given it to them, but now the time seems so right…

Recently, I heard them share part of their story. This was not their first marriage. Pain, trauma and abuses from the past came lurking into their new life. Scars from sexual abuse from when she was seven haunted her…..a secret so many girls and women have endured. She shared briefly about her assault on her life as an adult, as her young son witnessed the scene. It had left its toll on this slender, beautiful gal. My heart ached for her as I heard her speak, but was so proud she had won the victory. I watched her mom and dad as they sat in the pew in front of me…wondering how they endured. I watched her husband as he shared briefly his feelings of despair as he watched his wife battle depression, anxiety and her feelings of hopelessness. He was enduring his own thoughts of another possible failed marriage. Today, however I sense a lighter load and a new level in his worship with his bride standing beside him.

The journey of life sometimes bring us to hard places, crossroads, decisions of what is best. It is so comforting to know we are never alone. Learning to trust the one that has a plan for us, a plan larger than we have for ourselves. It brings my mind back to an apartment in the country I rented for a time. The landlord inquired one day if I had heard the peepers. I had never heard of such. My ears had chimed in to what I thought were frogs or something. I soon discovered the life of the peepers. I learned to listen for them and loved their sound. On another occasion he told me there would be a rose bush that would bring 300 pink roses to the property. I watched the tree bloom with the most beautiful pink roses. I loved flowers but rarely had them. I watched that rose tree bloom new roses daily. Sometime I want to go back and have my picture taken by that tree. I felt like the most precious woman alive as each day I was so blessed thru the blooming of the roses and the most beautiful green grass.

Today, help me to remember the small miracles of the day, the beauty of the rose, the peepers, the green grass, the birds chirping, the morning dew, the night’s crisp air. Help me to be a hand extended to a hurting world. Use me beyond myself to bring hope to someone that may have lost it yesterday.

Let my life today be like the beautiful pink rose, open once again to bloom where you have planted me.

Prayer: Oh God as I prepare to go for relay for life tomorrow and pray for the many people battling cancer, I go not in my own strength but armed with the word of the Lord. God for people battling cancer all around this world I say this; Silver and gold have I none but what I have I give unto thee, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up rise and walk all across this globe. The word of the Lord is the word of the Lord. It is not by might nor by power but by his spirit says the Lord. Psalm 107 v 20 one of my favorite bible verses; He sent his WORD and HEALETH thee. This is our spiritual medicine. Read it, confess it, but most of all BELIEVE it. For without Faith it is impossible to please God. No matter what you are battling today, your answers are found in the Holy Scriptures. Jesus paid the price that we may have life and life more abundantly. Stand strong against the winds of adversity. Can you stand back up today and BELIEVE once again. According to Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours (NLT). Let’s join our faith together today and Believe and Receive all across this land.

Just like the beautiful pink rose, Hope is blooming once again.