It's easy to lose hope, especially in today's world. Through times like these, we all need to be reminded of the hope of Jesus!
Hope for the Moment is a collection of what we're calling Devotional Stories, real stories by real people about a real God. There are some heavy moments, but in every story, hope is found and God is glorified. These serve to remind of God's faithfulness and goodness.
The deep, personal stories in this collection will inspire and encourage anyone with an open heart.
May the real stories from these real people reflect the real God and add HOPE to your season. There is hope, a living hope in Jesus, one that does not disappoint
You are not alone. You are loved. You are here for a reason.
Written by multiple best-selling authors, this collaboration goes deep and brings out the best from each writer. All writers are invited to write for these collaborations and become Devo Writers.
Two things:
1. Half of the proceeds go to a charity specific to the book topic: Star of Hope. This shows the writers' hearts for people struggling with what they've struggled with.
2. I love that Writers from around the world have contributed to this collaboration. We celebrate the international feel and authors have retained their own styles.
As the alarm sounded, I gasped as the realization hit me all over again. Oh God, is this really happening? Is this real or is it all just a bad dream? How did I get here? As I sat up, I immediately felt a tear trail down my face. My head throbbed and I had no desire to get up and go about my day. I sat, slumped in my bed, with what felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders.
It didn’t really matter how I was feeling; I had responsibilities. I had to get it together. The kids needed to get up and get ready for school. They needed me. They had their own pain to deal with and they needed their mom to show up for them. Yet, I sat frozen. I was dazed and confused, still finding it hard to believe. My happily ever after had imploded once again. Divorce #2, how could that be? I had been happy for fourteen years and never saw this coming. We had this incredible family, this incredible life; everything was so good. What happened? How would I get through this? How could I go on with my life as a single mom of 3?
My devotional lay on my nightstand, stacked on top of my Bible. Not today, I thought. I was too exhausted to care what God had to say. I stared at it, mumbling under my breath, I know! I need You, Lord, more than ever. So, I reached for it, begrudgingly flipped it open and began to read about someone who was overwhelmed by the affliction in her life. “I can relate,” I sarcastically whispered. I went on to read about how she stood before an overgrown garden full of weeds and grass. She was reminded that the gardener stops pruning the vines, pulling the weeds and mowing the grass when He no longer expects anything from the garden during that season. The scripture on the page was John 15:2:
"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
The story illustrated how God uses our struggles and trials to prune or cleanse us, grow us or prepare us, so we will bear fruit for Him. The next sentence leapt off the page at me. “Shall I leave you alone?” What? What did that say? “Shall I leave you alone?” What a profound question. No, that is not what I want, I thought. The realization hit me. While we are not eager to invite hard times into our lives, we certainly dare not ask God to just leave us alone. If we never experience anything hard, how can we grow or become stronger or even learn to truly trust in and lean on God? How would we ever come to know how good He is?
The days, weeks, and months ahead were some of the most difficult in my life. I was heartbroken and, quite frankly, heartsick. Weight fell off my small frame and people wondered if I had a chronic illness. No – just devastated by my life circumstances. I would put on a brave face and get the kids out the door and off to school. Then, most mornings I would fall on my face on the floor and sob. One morning as I lay there sobbing out loud, crying out to God, I suddenly became aware that I was not alone. Jesus was laying right beside me. Now my eyes did not see Him, but my spirit did. I knew. I knew that I knew that I knew He was there laying right beside me.
It was in the most difficult time of my life that I realized that Jesus is enough. I had been in the process of accumulating what I thought I needed – a man, children, success, financial security, a fabulous home with a pool – and feeling pretty good about it when it all came tumbling down. You see, I loved Jesus. I had accepted Him as my Savior, but I lived for me, and my flesh wanted more. But here, during this devastating time, I learned that all I needed, truly needed, was Jesus. He is everything I have ever wanted, everything I will ever need. He is enough.
Jesus was enough to carry me through that hard season. I became aware of His presence and experienced Him in ways I had never known. Sometimes as people were speaking to me, I wanted to reply, “I hear you, Jesus.” Prayers were answered in the craziest of ways. I came to understand that He is my strength, my fortress, and my rock. Even as I struggled to live out my faith, He remained faithful and fulfilled His promises to me. But... there was more to learn, more to understand.
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
-John 15:4
As I studied the passages in John 15, I read about abiding in Jesus and I knew that is what He wanted from me. Abide means to dwell, to settle in, to sink deeper. I needed to sink deeper in my relationship with Jesus, to get to know Him in a more intimate way and to learn how to live for Him. To abide in Him, I would need to walk in obedience to Him. That meant studying God’s word and understanding what He was asking me to do. Reading the Scripture of the day or relying on my pastor to tell me what God’s word said would no longer be enough. I would need to invest in this relationship. Jesus had already proven He was all in; now I needed to be all in as well.
Abiding would mean learning to put Jesus first in my life. Oh, I would have told you what every good Christian girl says, “God first, family second, and then career.” However, that was not true for me. I struggled and remember even questioning how I was supposed to love Him most. But as I got to know Jesus more, I soon discovered that it is only when we put Jesus first that we can become who we are meant to be, fulfill the purpose He has for us, become the wife our husband deserves, the mom our children need, and the friend so many crave. I came to believe the part in verse 5 that says, “for without Me you can do nothing.”
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
-John 15:7-8
Oh, the pruning process was painful. There was a cutting away of me and my selfish desires. Today, if I am not diligent in seeking Jesus, those still try to take root and spring forth. Satan wants us to believe that we need things over Jesus and that our security is in worldly assets, but nothing could be farther from the truth. As the Scripture above reminds us, as we obey His word and abide in His love for us, we come to experience and to understand His love more and more. The more time I spent in God’s word, the more it got into me and radically transformed me and my life. My greatest desire today is to fulfill His desires for me and for my life to glorify my heavenly Father.
I can remember my oldest daughter sitting on the steps in our home and telling me, “Mom, I don’t know how, but God will use all of this for good.” I smiled and nodded, but just couldn’t see it then. Once I got on the other side of that devastating time and looked back, I could see Him and His ways so clearly. What an awesome God we serve. He has used my pain to draw me to Him; my story to bring glory to Him; and turned my test into my testimony. Because of this hard season, I know Jesus in a way I might not have ever known Him on this side of heaven. I love Him with all my being and long to inspire others to fall in love with Him, so that they might inspire others to fall in love with Him and on and on. As crazy as it sounds, I am thankful for the pain, because what it has brought me is precious.