I want to say that this has been a great year for me here on WordPress. I have learned so much since 2019 when I first started writing here. I have met a great group of people I would not have otherwise met had I not started writing on this platform. I just want to thank everyone who has been following me, all of my new followers, and the followers to come. I have read some amazing articles, poems, and stories, and I must say that you all are brilliant writers. I hope that the coming year will bring you all more joy, peace, and happiness, and every blessing that you deserve. This year, I became a grandmother. I am still excited! I know we all have had our ups and downs, but we made it through it together. I just want to tell you all that I appreciate you very much for all of your encouragement, and prayers. So, here is a virtual hug to you all!
I can’t wait to see what will happen in 2024, but then again, I guess we all will have to wait and see. Well, I am going to bring this to a close by saying: Have a merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year! As always from my heart to yours, thank you for joining me on my journey with Food for the Soul.
Have you ever prayed and it seemed like the answer wasn’t ever going to come? Have you ever wondered if God was really listening to you? Have you ever counted the days and nights after the fact? Well, if you have you are not alone. I can say that I have been where you are. As a matter of fact, I am right there right now. I know it takes time to wait for God to answer our prayers. We want answers right then when we pray, but it doesn’t work like that. God has His own way and time how He does things. Things will never be done when we want them to be done. When God does something, He is always on time, He’s never late. Our problem is this: We don’t know how to be patient. Patience is a virtue that we all need to learn how to be. We can’t rush God no matter what the circumstances may look like at the time. Things are not always what they seem to be. We may see things one way, but God sees them another way. He can take a bad situation and turn it around for good. That is something we need to remember.
Waiting is hard. It’s never easy when you have been waiting for an answer for a long time. I can truly say that He hears all of our prayers. He hears our every thought. He knows everything that we need before we even ask. It is important to thank God for everything. So, when you feel like God isn’t listening, He is. Sometimes when He is silent, He is just giving us a little more time to pray, a little more time to grow our faith and trust in Him.
Life becomes hard sometimes. We never know what’s going to happen from one day to the next. There is so much going on in the world right now, that I often wonder if things will ever be normal. We are still going through COVID-19 and all of its counterparts. There are vaccines, but people are still getting sick with it. I hope that one day there will be a cure for it so we will not have to get vaccinated every time a vaccine comes out. I know they are doing all that they can to keep us protected, but I can’t say that it is 100% accurate whether it will or not. It is going to take lots of faith to stay strong through all of this. This is why it is important to stay prayed up and follow all of the rules that have been set for us by the CDC (Centers For Disease Control). I think in some cases it is still alright to wear a mask, but it is the choice of the person whether they want to still wear it or not. All that I can say is that God is in control of everything, and as I once said before, it is going to take a lot of prayer, faith, and trust in God to make it through these hard dark times. God knows how I feel about all of this, and He knows how you feel about it too. Maybe this is something that will only last for many seasons and then will disappear as if it was never here. I hope to one day get to tell my grandson about all of this. I hope that when he is older this will no longer be an issue.
Well, I pray that everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in 2024.
In his first letter to the believers in the Greek city of Corinth, the Apostle Paul said this:
“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV
This well-known verse is the conclusion of what’s often referred to as the “love chapter” of the Bible. In it, Paul explained that spiritual gifts (like prophecy or knowledge) are helpful to the Church but simultaneously meaningless without an undercurrent of love.
Faith and hope are at the top of the list, but love is the greatest.
Think about it…
Faith is crucial to Christianity. In fact, “Without faith it is impossible to please God…” (Hebrews 11:16). “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). But one day, faith will give way to sight and what was once foggy will suddenly become clear.
Hope is also essential to those who follow Jesus Christ. And we certainly have a great hope—based on facts, evidence, and witnesses—in the God who created us, gave His life for us, and will return for us once and for all. But one day, the future we hope for will become reality.
And so, Paul says, love is the greatest. Earlier in the chapter (1 Corinthians 13:4-8), Paul defines love in action.
Faith and hope are important, but love is the greatest of them all.
bible.com/bible/1/1co.13.13.KJV
Food for the Soul 