Surely, there are great joys to experience in this world—I’ll be the first to say that I really enjoy life. But happiness as a believer is rooted in something deeper than just good stuff happening, or circumstances going the way we want.

God seems to love to surprise us with unexpected blessings. A phone call or email out of the blue that helps restore hope after a difficult day.

I was frustrated that I was trapped behind all the slow drivers, and forced to stop at all the red lights. I had to laugh, because I really didn’t have anywhere I needed to be. So why then did I get so impatient?

If you’re tired and weak, in need of rest, ask God to sustain you. God will help you accomplish whatever you need to do.

While we can have hope that God is with us now, there is still yet to come a better day. When we will see him, and be made like him.

We can know that God is offering us gifts of life and a promise of salvation, even in the midst of whatever we’re going through.

To keep praying with hope and expectation requires effort and perseverance, as well as great courage and patience. Don’t give up, because one thing is certain. God wants you to know his love for you is more extravagant and all-encompassing than you could ever imagine.

Just as a parent who is singing a song of love and calm over her child, God is wanting us to know that we are loved, that we are being rejoiced in.

Are you in the middle of what feels like a horrible storm? Remember how God sent a rainbow as a sign of his covenant to never again destroy all life with a flood? Keep your hope-filled eyes to the horizon, there will be a rainbow appearing for you one day soon, as well.

God has carefully placed you right where he wants you. I find great hope in knowing we each play a specific part in the body of Christ.