Hope

Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me and heard my cry.

This verse gives me hope. Hope that if I keep waiting for the Lord, as David did, I will receive answers to my heart cries. My dad would often say to me the old adage, "It's always darkest just before dawn." Surely our dawn is nigh, though I do wonder. We are saying goodbye to an answer to prayer this week. A family with five children joined our church almost a year and half ago. God sent them just for us! Their children are the same ages as our children. Their oldest daughter was our babysitter! They are a sweet, dedicated family. Then, his job relocated him! We heard they were moving about a year ago now. He works for the post office, and they move slowly. When they told me the news, it was like a punch in the stomach. I walked home, telling the Lord all about it. "Lord, why? Why must they go? They were the answer to prayer that You gave us!" I knew in my heart that God will do that which He sees fit and He knows best. It was as though He said, "Valerie, will you trust me? When things are confusing, will you just trust that I know best?"

Yes, Lord, I will trust you.

I can't begin to describe the pain of the last three years, especially the last few months. I tried typing it all out, but it just seemed too painful to re-live, so I deleted it. The bottom line is that things have been bad, and then worse. But things were bad for David, too. He faced some of the same situations we have. He cried out to the Lord over and over. Finally, we see in Psalm 40 that the Lord heard his cry! Praise the Lord! Help came! He was delivered! That gives me hope. One day, I will be delivered, too. It may be when He takes me home to Heaven. But I think I'll be delivered here, from these problems. I have hope, from the Lord, and that's really all I need.