Hope shouts louder

As we get close to a New Year, the words “Hope Shouts Louder” have been placed on my heart.  Credit must go to Rebecca Townley and Rosie Godfrey, the authors of “Hope Shouts Louder”, as the title, and content of their book spoke deeply to my heart.  The phrase has been rattling around my mind for the past few days and I believe it is a significant message from the Lord for our Ministry and the people we work with.

The nature of our work is one that requires hope. Not a vain hope that things will get better, but a significant and real hope in our Lord Jesus Christ to make a way, when in the natural there seemingly is no way.  As I prayed today with a Mum whose son is struggling with addiction I remembered this phrase – hope shouts louder.  We chatted about the improvement in his addiction, how he had managed to come off one drug and was now working on reducing others.  Six months ago this seemed impossible, yet through prayer and trusting God we are seeing change.  This particular Mum has found it possible to now hand her son over to God and say, “not my will, but yours” and since that point in time she has felt a deep peace come over her.  

He has gone away over the Christmas period with a group who declare themselves pagan.  Yet rather than panic she is trusting that this is the time that Jesus will speak into his life.
How can she do this and remain so calm? Simply because she knows that Resurrection hope shouts louder than anything this world can say or do.

Whether it’s a parent praying for a child, an individual trapped in addiction or patterns of sin that they can’t get out of, or a church leader struggling to remain faithful to God’s word because of worldly opposition, we are here to say – HOPE SHOUTS LOUDER.  I believe this is a time to stop accepting mediocre and to start believing and trusting in the power and authority of our God to effect change and set people free.  I for one am not going to rest until we see freedom for those we work with, no more half measures, Jesus came to bring life in abundance, let’s claim that for our families, our friends and ourselves, continue to surrender to God and bring our desires to Him in prayer knowing that his voice will overcome the voices of the world.