Have you ever felt that the hope you once were so full of has run dry? Have you ever felt that the ability to endure it all is no more? I have - in my darkest moments, when those long nights turned into long seasons that never seemed to end. My friend, I want to tell you that those nights did end and some of those things I had hoped for so deeply came to be. Jesus restores us because he loves us so, so very much.

Love always hopes. Love always perseveres. 

My husband, son, and myself hoped for Baby #2 for six years. When I said I had felt that my hope had run dry, it truly felt that way. My hope was on a roller coaster. Some days it felt like no one could knock down this hope of growing our family, but some days it felt as though the desire and longing for another sweet baby would never come to be. About three years into our hope of growing our family, I heard a pastor preach on Ecclesiastes. Honestly, I do not recall the sermon one bit, but what I do recall is a church family member who walked up to me after with a torn piece of his notebook paper. He handed me the paper, and all it said was, “in His time”. He told me never to forget that. That piece of paper hung in my kitchen for years. It comes from what is now one of my favorite verses of all time. I use it so often now. If you know me personally, I’ve probably shared that hope with you too. You see, that friend of mine knew what I had just gone through. He knew that I had experienced an ectopic pregnancy, not even a year ago, that had ruptured and resulted in emergency surgery.  I lost both of my Fallopian tubes that day. He knew that I longed desperately for another child. What he didn’t know was that a year later I would lose one of my brothers to a tragic accident and would desperately need that verse to be instilled deeply in my heart. My friend did not know all of this, but King Jesus knew. 

“He makes all things beautiful in His time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 

Love always hopes. 

When I think about perseverance, there is this picture that comes to mind of a lady running up a flight of stairs. Underneath the picture, it reads: “Perseverance - ‘What lies behind us and what lies before us are small compared to what lies within us.’ -Ralph Waldo Emerson”

Another church family member once pointed to this picture hanging up in one of the Sunday school rooms at my former church, and said, “This is you. You are persevering.”  I did not feel that way. I was leaving my grief share class, in the very midst of my grief after losing my brother. 

Our God loves us so, so very much that he sends us just who we need in that moment. He is always trying to show us His love. He sends us hope. He also gives us those nudges to be that hope for someone else, and if we act in time we may just change someone’s life. We may just shed the ray of light or unwavering hope just in time to help our family persevere through hard times. 

When I think about perseverance, I just cannot help but think of persevering love. 1 Corinthians 13 is known as the love chapter. Love is… All things. Love hopes all, endures all. Love always believes, trust, protects. Love always perseveres. 

Love. Nothing else. That’s it. God's love is not fleeting, not brief. 

My grandfather passed away in May. When I think of my granddaddy, I think exactly that: the love we shared was not brief. It is not fleeting. It has lasted me 30 years, and it will stay with me until we are reunited. My granddaddy gave his life to the Lord at the end of his race this side of Heaven. God never gave up on my granddaddy. He sent certain people at certain times of his life to do the planting, watering, and nurturing in my granddaddy’s heart so that the Lord could reap a harvest in His time. 

“The race isn’t given to the swift or the strong, but those who persevere until the end!” Ecclesiastes 9:11

Love always perseveres. 

Persevering love makes me think of wedding vows.  You know “to have and to hold”, “in sickness and in health”, and “for richer and for poorer’. The basic premise of this pledge is the fact that love perseveres. 

In the same way, Jesus, on his most difficult night, showed how love always perseveres by washing the feet of his disciples and praying for them. 

Despite difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement, persevering love continues steadfast. It endures all things. Endurance marked by love is a God love... a love that is consistently seeking what is best for a loved one. 

When seeking what is best for a loved one, we put our hope in the mix. We hope for our children to make the Honor roll, or we hope for them to make that sports team. We hope for them to be healthy. We hope to get married, or we hope for babies. We hope to get that promotion at work, or we hope for the Lord to open a new door for our career. We hope for our favorite sports team to win the game. We hope to make up after a fight with a loved one. We hope that family member will love Jesus, just like we do. 

Love always hopes. 

We need hope. Not just regular everyday hope like “Oh I hope to make it through this next light without it turning red.” We need biblical hope. With biblical hope, we can expect God to show up and do something big! 

Hope is a stockpile of emotional strength. It is the good in the future our hearts desire. If we don’t have hope, we cannot see the good in the bad. If the work meeting did not go as planned, or the visit at the fertility doctor delivers the news we did not want to hear, we turn to the stockpile of hope we have. If we do not possess this stockpile of hope, it will run dry. 

If we don’t nourish our hearts daily with the bread of intimacy with the Father, our hope will run dry, just like any stockpile will empty if the stock isn’t being replaced. He is the source of our hope and perseverance. 

So, when the next big item you hope for comes along, whether it is the salvation of a spouse or the good grades of your struggling child, refresh your strength with the love of Jesus. Jesus promises to give us the desires of our hearts, so why would you not want to hope in Him? (Psalm 37)

You see my friend, when we love something or someone, we hope big things. Jesus hopes big things for us too. He hopes we love Christ as Christ loves us. 

I hope the love you hold always has hope and perseverance. 

Keep holding on, my friend. 

~Jessica Markley