Finding the light of hope

“Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path”
-Psalm 119:105

Do we find hope or does hope find us? I found it appears to us in moments of surrender. In my own cancer journey, the light of hope glimmered when I finally stopped fighting the fear that cancer could destroy me, and surrendered my fight to the power of God to fight for me. It was at that moment I decided to win. I faced my fear and remembered my brother Chip’s motto about fear – that it is False Evidence Appearing Real. So what is the true evidence that is real? These “facts” can be found in the greatest book of truths – THE BIBLE.

I started scouring the bible for verses that revealed the promises of God to each of us. I found a blank journal book and began recording the truths I found to feed my soul each morning and arm myself with the protection I needed to face each day. It brought me great joy as the nuggets of power jumped off the pages at me. They had been there all along but I think the difference was my new receptivity to embrace them. I finally understood what is meant by “power in the word.”

A popular country music song “Jesus Take The Wheel” by Carrie Underwood offers us great advice. It encourages us all to remember that God is in control. If we can begin by believing this, we can allow hope to perch itself and make a nest in our souls. But the key to this, is believing with all your heart and soul. Hope is believing in the outcome. It is believing what you cannot see. It is realizing the victory is already ours. Cancer is not so much a battle for your body as it is for your soul.

What we cannot see is more important than what we CAN see. What we CAN see is limited. What we CANNOT see is unlimited power of God’s universe that is available to us. There is great power in the unseen – it is that place where we can cleft in God. When we learn to abide in God, to immerse our spirits in quiet, we start to hear the whispers God speaks to our hearts.

The most important aspect of hope is understanding that you can hope because YOU ARE NOT ALONE. God has promised us He is there all the time. Wherever God is there is power. It’s up to us to accept that truth. Once we do the universe unfolds and begins to unleash mighty miracles.

The spoils of our victory is that peace that surpasses all understanding. It is knowing that no matter what God’s will is for our bodies, we have won the battle for our soul. When we can honestly say “No matter what happens – it is well with my soul” then we become filled with a happiness that makes us want to run out and bless the world. That, my friend, is what winning is all about. It is a battle we win day after day if we refuse to give in to despair and choose life.