SPEAKER_00: Hi everyone, it's Nancy with your Wednesday edition of our daily walk.
SPEAKER_00: Some weeks are filled with ordinary days, days that seem to come and go with familiar routines and without particular notice.
SPEAKER_00: While I have my ordinary days just as you do, this time of the year also brings some special occasions, days to celebrate and days to reflect.
SPEAKER_00: In March, we all opened our doors to spring, a season of new beginnings.
SPEAKER_00: It's a time to plan and plant, then wait in anticipation of what's to come.
SPEAKER_00: It's a season of hope.
SPEAKER_00: A few days ago I celebrated another birthday, and I've been taking opportunities to reflect back on the blessings that have been a part of my past and to look forward to what God has planned for me.
SPEAKER_00: It's a time of hope.
SPEAKER_00: As we begin this new month, I'm also taking time to remember when God reached down from heaven five years ago to take my husband Solon's hand and lead him to the place the Lord said he has prepared for us to be with him.
SPEAKER_00: Solon left this world behind and stepped into an eternity with the one whom he spent his life loving and serving.
SPEAKER_00: While our family misses him dearly, we believe without a doubt he's experiencing a joy he never knew before and a peace that surpasses our understanding.
SPEAKER_00: And someday we will be with him.
SPEAKER_00: For us, it's a time of mourning, and yet it's also a time of hope.
SPEAKER_00: During this week, as we take special time to reflect on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, I've been thinking about how his followers dealt with those events as they witnessed them firsthand.
SPEAKER_00: They had spent three years believing they were on a journey towards deliverance and that he was the Messiah they'd been waiting for.
SPEAKER_00: They sat at the feet of their teacher as he opened the eyes of their hearts to a deeper understanding of God.
SPEAKER_00: They stood by his side ministering to others.
SPEAKER_00: They shared their hearts with him as they broke bread together.
SPEAKER_00: The future looked full of promise.
SPEAKER_00: Then suddenly their dreams shattered and their joyful hearts flooded with fear.
SPEAKER_00: Hope seemed to slip right through their hands as they watched their Messiah taken from them, crucified, and then buried in a tomb.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine their sense of loss, their pain, their feelings of hopelessness.
SPEAKER_00: Yet God showed them that what felt like an ending was in fact a part of his ultimate plan for their lives and for ours.
SPEAKER_00: Once again their hearts overflowed with joy as they met their risen Savior.
SPEAKER_00: God's promise was fulfilled and hope was restored for them and for us.
SPEAKER_00: Whether these days are ordinary ones for you, days filled with special remembrances, or perhaps days filled with struggles, disappointments, even pain, I encourage you to draw close to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Be still and feel his presence.
SPEAKER_00: Listen for his voice, reflect on his sacrifice, celebrate his resurrection, thank him for his mercy and his amazing grace.
SPEAKER_00: Remember his promises.
SPEAKER_00: Then let a spirit of hope fill your heart and guide your steps as you press on toward the future he has planned for you.
SPEAKER_00: First Peter 1 3 tells us according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: And Colossians 1 27 says, Christ in you, the hope of glory.
SPEAKER_00: Amen