The Door of Hope

There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.  There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

─ Hosea 2:15

Just nine years old, the move to Japan felt like an exciting quest to Taylor Murray – at first. Soon the thrill faded as a heavy blanket of grief embraced her. She confronted her losses in leaving everything familiar and everyone she knew. Over the next five years, the emotions she stuffed, oozed out in uncontrollable anger.

Taylor’s parents encouraged her to express her emotions freely by writing about how she felt in honest, heartfelt letters to God. By pouring out her emotions to God, and trusting Him to listen, it released her from her painful prison of grief; comforting her and carrying her from a place of desperation to a new joy in Him.

Sometimes we stand on the threshold between despair and hope, unable to see the door of freedom right in front of us because we are holding tightly to all we feel we’ve lost. Suddenly, when we realize we can trust God and share our hurt and pain freely, we often find the open door to our freedom and joy in Him.

Today’s One Thing

Are you holding tightly to what you wish could have been and to what seems lost? Are you unsure if stepping through the door will make a difference? Share your emotions with God today and take a step through the threshold by faith.

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