“Hope is the voice that God uses to speak to our hearts instead of our heads.”
One of my dear friends from childhood is going thru a horrible, life changing time right now. Her niece, who is 25 years-old, was in a car accident 4 weeks ago that has left her in a coma. My friend was not only an aunt to her, but at times helped raise her like she was her own. They were very close. I have watched my friend be vigilant by her bedside, for signs of her coming back. This quote was posted on her CaringBridge site this week. It immediately caught my attention because of the word “hope” but the actual quote tugged at my heart.
So much of what we do relies on hope. If we do not have hope that people can get better, why keep doing what we do? Many times, not only in our line of work, but in life itself, our heads tell us something can’t be done. Logically, it doesn’t make sense. With clients, they often look at their situations and feel no hope. Logically, there seems to be little hope for a couple struggling thru an affair or the aftermath of the discovery of a sexual addiction. For someone who has felt depressed for years, left it untreated, and has little support- yes, your head says nothing is going to change. For the teen, who can’t see life beyond these difficult years- their head says “It’s not worth it, why keep going? This is what life is about?” For each of these examples, in their own minds, it would seem that logically there is not hope.
However, God comes in and offers each of us hope. Hope for a modern day miracle. A couple making it thru an affair and rebuilding an even better relationship from the struggle is nothing less than a miracle! Someone overcoming depression who had accepted it as a way of life, seeing their life has purpose and they can actually LIVE- a miracle! And yes, even the teen, having someone share with them the bigger picture and that life will be better than high school and the pettiness of everyone! So they choose to live rather than end their life. All of these are, in my mind, modern day miracles that give me hope.
It’s easy to look at the world, especially with everything going on, and feel there is no hope. But we can believe there is hope. Hope has to come from the heart and your heart has to be open to hear God speaking to it. So when logically it feels there isn’t hope, I offer a suggestion. Allow yourself to listen to your heart. Slow down and allow yourself the possibility for a modern day miracle. There may not be “burning bushes” or “water into wine” miracles going on, but they are happening. Trust me- I am an eye witness EVERYDAY!
That is why I can have hope for my friend, when she gets down and wonders if she is hoping for something “not logical”. No way- there is hope….in my heart!
Thank you for your valuable time! Have a wonderful week.
Natalie Chandler, MA, LMHC is a therapist at Imagine Hope Counseling Group. Natalie enjoys doing marriage counseling, individual counseling, and couples counseling. We also specialize in family counseling, child, and adolescent counseling. Imagine Hope serves the Indianapolis area including the surrounding areas of Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Westfield, and Zionsville.