Garden of the Gods Park, Colorado Springs
Where I live in Colorado
there’s an extraordinary park with gigantic natural red rocks called Garden of
the Gods. Some areas are not open to the public because they need repair. A sign
posted there reads, “Area Under Reclamation.” In other words, “Don’t walk here;
we’re fixing this section.”
Just as the land needs ecological restoration, the landscape of your heart may need some
spiritual restoration—and often emotional and physical changes as well. The
good news is that both landscapes and lives be transformed.
Restoration is
possible, but often we lose sight of how it happens. We lose sight of hope.
Focused solely on our circumstances our view becomes myopic;
we see only part of the picture. For example, if you took a photograph of a
desert landscape, all you’d see in the four-by-six inch photo would be your
perspective from one viewpoint: some sand, cactus and a bit of tumbleweed blowing
in the distance.
But the picture doesn’t tell the whole story. What you couldn’t
see beyond the edges of your snapshot was an oasis just ahead, or the desert’s end.
There’s more to the landscape, and there’s more to your life. Beyond the snapshot in your mind of how
you feel at this moment—beyond your discouragement or desperation—there is hope
ahead.
You can have hope in hard times, and in all times, when you
know more fully the One in whom we put our hope. Jesus Christ, our Wild Hope. He
is “wild” in the sense that He is passionate and powerful—adoring and
authoritative—yet often unpredictable.
Isaiah 55:8 reminds us, “‘For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD.” While His ways are often surprising, He
acts out of ultimate love. Hope that is wild is extravagant; it is beyond
your wildest dreams.
Restoring the landscape of your life and getting through
tough times comes through prayer. Talking with God, and listening. A simple,
but holy, conversation.
A prayer-filled life
is a powerful life. It will help you to stand strong in tough times.
When
you pray, your life—and the lives of those around you—will be forever changed.
You will be inspired to live with greater peace, restored hope, and more
freedom.
You will discover wild hope through your connection with Jesus
Christ—a hope so unexpected yet so wonderfully good, that when you begin to
grasp it your life just may be transformed into one of startling kindness,
lavish love, and limitless possibilities.
Now that’s the kind of hope I can hold onto. How about you?
