Gathering Hope

It just won't leave me alone, this gathering hope idea. So I decided to see what the bible has to say about hope. Here's a good one:

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So I see this hope gathering didn't start with me. That whole old testament- all that time before Christ died for us, was written for us, so we could gather scripture together to maintain hope. This scripture is found under the heading of Bearing Others' Burdens, in Romans 15:4-6. God is trying to clear up some of my stinkin thinkin right here and now. He expects us to comfort and be patient with one another, and like minded (which may explain why I share a brain with more that a few people). We should be thinking alike, in Jesus name and under His direction. Romans 15:13 continues;

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit

 Until we have hope in our hears and minds and living and breathing thru us we cannot have the joy and peace of believing. Maybe we can't believe fully until we understand the place that hope must have within us. I don't know. I know that Sweet Sue clung to hope. I always thought to myself hey, you know what- if this is how she dies, living in the hope that only God can give us, then where is the problem? She was a great woman with great faith and hope for everlasting life. No matter how it ended for her, she won. Hope won. We loose, which is what I wrestle with. We hoped she would get that new heart. We believed she would, that it was the natural next step. A heart attack was not on the list of things to happen next. I don't know why- it doesn't matter and she wouldn't want us hung up on that. I just know she had enough hope to make it until December 30, 2011. Hope for myself is a whole different story. I just expect to get cancer again. It's like it's just calloused inside me. It's probably defense mechanisms so I can cope if it does happen again. I don't know how to gather hope for myself. I know how to gather hope when I am with others. I know how to give hope to others. And I know that I need hope. And to some extent I do. I believe and am full of joy and peace almost always. I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. I believe in healing. I just don't know what the plan is for my healing is all..... So maybe that is what I need to concentrate on- Hoping for God's plan to play out in my life and for me to remain in his grace with peace and joy no matter what the next month has in store for me. So here's to gathering and abounding in hope. When we can't do it for ourselves, we let others help us. It's commanded of us. Go give hope.