a glimmer of hope to hang on to

Obviously it’s made out of 3 different images and edited in PS so I'm on top of this superb interior... and yes in my hand is not a cell phone but a light meter ;) it's a rather specialized and ”manual” way of measuring light LOL

I liked this title and I google it only to find my photo and this text with the same title:
And because ROMANS is one of my favorite books I posted the text here if you'd like to read it. OR NOT?


“A Glimmer of Hope”
Romans 8:18-31
By: Marveya LaNeice Gooch
Submitted: May 22, 2006
In life we often hope for things. We have hopes that we will get a good job. Or
we say I hope this gas lasts me until payday. I hope my Algebra II exam is not
that hard. I hope my parents take me out of town this summer. I hope my kids
turn out to be good kids. I hope we get a pastor soon. We have a lot of things
that we “hope.” Our hopes are of things tat are in the future and things we
cannot see. Our hopes are not wishful thinking but a true hope is a firm
assurance of things that are unseen and in the future. God gives us hope.
Because God has saved us, by the spirit we can have hope. We have hope that
while our loved ones are traveling, they will be ok. WE can have hope that the
future of our lives is going to be a bright future. We can have hope that our
church is going to be alright. With just a glimmer of hope our minds can be at
ease about the future things we cannot see. There are three things that go along
with this hope: Patience, Purpose, and a Partner.
Romans 8:18 says “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” This tells us
that what we are going through right now, today, is nothing compared to the
power of God. We have lots of things going on in our personal lives. Financial
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problems, relationship problems, problems with children and jobs, but these
things are nothing compared to the power of God. I know it might seem like
God’s power is not being seen but you have to be patient. Just have a glimmer
of hope that God is going to work things out in your life. The thing about this
hope is that it is not for something you can see. Be patient and God will work in
our lives. Verses 24 and 25 say, “For we are saved by hope but hope that is
seen is not hope for what a man sent why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope
for that we see no, then do we with patience wait for it.” We have to be patient.
We do not hope for things that we look at day to day. We know those things are
going to happen. It is those things that we cannot see that we must be patient
and have hope for. I have been off work for the last six weeks due to my car
accident. Every time I go to the Dr. I say I hope they let me go back to work.
But I had to learn to be patient and wait on it. Whatever it is you are hoping for
keep that glimmer of hope and wait on it patiently. Don’t be too hasty. If you are
hoping for that husband or wife, be patient God will supply. If you are hoping for
that financial breakthrough be patient God will supply. If you are hoping for that
job, be patient God will supply. If you are hoping that your child will turn around
be patient God will take care of it. First Baptist if you are hoping for a pastor be
patient God’s working on it. We can keep the hope because of God but we have
to be patient.
Verse 28 goes on to say, “And we know that all things work together for good to
them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” If we love
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God everything that is according to His purpose is going to be fine. God wants
us to love Him. He is going to take care of us if we love Him, and all things we
hope for that are according to His purpose will be good. Like patience, we have
to be doing things according to His purpose. A lot of times we want to do things
according to our own purpose. For instance I want to go back to work for the
purpose having more money so I can shop. I initially did not consider God’s
purpose in the accident. Single people if we are going to get married simply for
the purpose of having a husband and not according to God’s purpose that might
be why our divorce rate is so high. If we are going to buy cars and other material
things for the purpose of having status symbols, that might be why we are having
financial problems. Parents if you don’t check up on your kids for the purpose of
them having privacy that might be why the world is having so many problems. If
we fill the pastor’s position for the purpose of having someone sitting in this seat
the church might end up in a mess. If we are going to have hope our purpose
has to be in accordance with God. With our purpose according to God we know
everything is going to work together for good. We won’t have to worry about
those things we are hoping for. They are going to work together for good to them
that love God to them who are called according to His purpose.
So we must have patience and do things according to God’s purpose. The last
point I want to make is that we need a partner in our hope. Jesus Christ hung,
bled, and died so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. God sent
Jesus just for us. Just for you and me at a time when we were not even born.
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God knew that I would need a Savior and that you would need a Savior. Who
better to be our partner than God? Everyone needs a partner. God should be
your partner. He is the reason we can have the hope through Jesus that God
sent for us. We should let God be our partner. I’m going to close with this story.
There was a man going to a tug of war competition. He was a strong man and
thought he could face any opponent. He said to himself I hope I take home first
place. So he put some powder on and his hands and prepared himself for the
tug of war. Right before he took his position it started getting cloudy and it
looked like it was going to storm. The man was a little concerned and said, I
hope it doesn’t storm before I do the tug of war because it will get slippery and
muddy. So he went on with the stormy clouds and prepared for the tug of war.
He stepped up to the rope and wanted to size up his competition. He looked on
the other side of the rope and noticed there was his boss from work with lots of
work for him to do, there were some bill collectors telling him about unpaid bills,
there were doctors telling him of ailments, there were family members who
wanted things from him and the more he looked it appeared that the whole world
was on the other side of this rope. He begins to think he couldn’t do this, and the
storm clouds got heavier. It began to rain and he was now getting wet with all
these people on the other side of the rope. He decided to go ahead and pull; he
said I hope I don’t get pulled into this muddy water by all these people and even
thought he might not be able to do it. But the man closed his eyes and pulled
and with one yank all those people lost and fell into the muddy water. He looked
around in amazement and then looked behind him and there was his partner God
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pulling the rope with him. See sometime this will get wet, even a little stormy.
You might get slippery and get rained, but hold on to the rope and pull. It might
seem like everyone is pulling against. You job, your money, your family, your life
may be seeing to fall apart but hold on to the rope and pull because verse 31
tells us what shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us. So no matter what is on the other sides of that rope know that your
partner has your back. When the naysayers are on the other side of the rope
your partner has your back. When ailments are on the other side of the rope
your partner has your back. It might seem like everyone in the church is on the
other side of the rope, your partner has your back. First Baptist it might seem
that there are things on the other side of our rope, but we have to pull because
our partner has our back. Hang in there plant your feet and pull. If God is for
you who can be against you? The fight is fixed. I know there are even times
when I don’t feel like pulling the rope. There are too many people on the other
side to pull against. My partner will not only pull with me but when God is your
partner He will pull for you. When you are too tired, too scared, too hurt, too shy
to pull your rope for yourself, count on your partner to pull it for you. Don’t you
want a partner that is always pulling for you? Don’t you want someone who
wants you to win? God is that partner. You are going to win. Keep your hope in
the Lord. My hope is built on nothing less that Jesus blood and righteousness.
Keep hope in the Lord. Let him be your partner. Be patient, work according to
God’s purpose and choose him as your partner. Where does your hope lie? My
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hope is in the Lord. Just a glimmer of hope is all you need and everything is
going to be alright.
Bio for Marveya L. Gooch
Marveya LaNeice Gooch was born May 15, 1981 to Cedric Lee and Patrice
McClain. She attended Metro Public Schools were she graduated with Honors
from Whites Creek High School. She then attended Xavier University of
Louisiana.
At the early age of 5 Marveya accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and savior and
was baptized at Mt. Gilead Baptist Church by the late Rev. Foster Young. At age
11 she moved her membership to First Baptist Church of East Nashville. She
preached her trial sermon and was licensed as a minister on June 12, 2005 at
First Baptist Church of East Nashville where Dr. Floyd E. Lacey is the pastor.
She now serves as the Evangelism Associate Minister for the church. She is
also a Sunday school teacher, coordinator of Children’s church and serves in
other capacities for the church.
Marveya is a trainer for DuPont’s Accounts Payable under Prestige Prining
where she has worked since 2003. Marveya lives by I Timothy 4:12: “Let no man
despise thy youth but be thou an example to the believers in word, in
conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”