Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Have the blahs? How 'bout some Hope?



"Just what makes that little old ant
Think he'll move that rubber tree plant...
He's got high hopes! High apple pie in the sky hopes!"
Sammy Cahn from the song "High Hopes" sung by Frank Sinatra

Yesterday, my morning started like molasses dripping down the side of a jar. Slow. Sticky. Messy.

I woke up with that feeling many of us have from time to time. The blahs. One step away from slipping off the cliff into depression. Once my toe goes over that ledge, phrases like "Who cares? and Nothing matters anyway" slip out easily.

I recognized what was happening, but once in that particular state it's difficult to climb out of it. So I did what many of us would do. I went back to bed.

But then...

I prayed for God's strength to make my day count. Nothing wrong with naps. But I was more emotionally tired than physically drained. As I lay cocooned in a blankie, Scooby in a ball to my side, I heard a still, small voice: "Get up and go."

I chose to do it. I'm sure God's strength infused me. A Tai Chi class was starting and I'd told myself to try it. So off I went.

And you know what happened? Hope. Hope filled me up, followed closely by joy. When we choose to pray for His strength and then listen to His voice, wonderful things, supernatural things, happen.

My Tai Chi class was a blast. Energized by a bit of exercise and purpose, I made my day count as a day not wasted but one in which I lived and loved and laughed. And not lay in bed.

That little ant who tries to move the rubber tree plant? I betcha he asks God for strength before he starts moving ten times his weight. He prays. He listens. High hopes happen.

May you have a day of high hopes born of His strength! :0)

2 comments:

Cheryl Barker said...

So glad you listened to God and allowed Him to turn your day around, Robbie. Isn't it great to have a God who can do that for us?!

Robbie Iobst said...

Amen Cheryl! God (and you) are always encouragements to me!