Reflections...

...from The Last Addiction, by Sharon Hersh

"There is only one Source of hope, and that is Jesus. What makes this sign of healing so hard is that we can't control it...He does one thing for one person and doesn't do it for us. That's why we so often return to the last addiction. It seems safer and more predictable to take matters into our own hands...

Our resistance to hope doesn't stop God. Sometimes we need to stop all of our efforts to save ourselves, because hope breaks through when we have no other choice. We really have come to the end of ourselves. For some of us, it takes thirty-eight years or longer to hear the compassion and healing in His voice as He asks, 'Are you ready to be well?' Hope starts walking without being sure where we're going. Hope keeps walking when others, or our circumstances, tell us to give up. Hope prays, 'Give us this day--just today--our daily bread.' Hope doesn't hide from others when struggles resurface and doubts plague us, because now we take joy in knowing we don't have it all together, and we never will!"

"So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace...There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever." 2 Corinthians 4:16,18