Yesterday my friend and I were driving home through a valley. The hills surrounding us had already descended into dusk and the trees began to accept the blackness of night but the sky still had a warm glow on the edges. Impulsively I turned onto a rough dirt road that led up to Eager Hill. From there we could see beyond the darkness to the height of the Steeples Range which caught the light.

Looking at the photos this morning I was reminded of a passage from Jeremiah 3.

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

Jeremiah was still a prisoner in chains in the kings’ courtyard, surrounded by the barricades of possessions the people were piling up in a desperate attempt to stop the inevitable. They turned to the prophet. The immediate news was not good. His heart broke as he told them. Then that word that changes our viewpoint: Nevertheless.

“Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security…”

In our dark moments, when things are just getting darker, the Lord invites us to call to him and come up higher. He says, “Yes. This difficult place is where you are. I know. This is tough. Nevertheless I tell you to have hope. I will show you. This beautiful place is where you are going. I have plans for you and they are bigger and better and more glorious than you have ever imagined, because now we do it My way.”

Hope: Vision-led endurance.