Hope Never Stops

On April 8 & 9, 2016, many women gathered together for the Brave Conference at Eastern Hills. Some walked away with a renewed sense of God's purpose for them, some with a new understanding of how to apply the promises and truths of scripture to their lives, and still others with refreshing encouragement and hope.

Ananda Etkin (Global Missions Ministry Assistant) is sharing what God stirred in her own heart while she was at Brave. Keep reading below!

I prayed for someone for over 30 years and then I quit. I felt like I just could not do it anymore. I gave up. If God had not saved him after 30 years, then it was just not going to happen. His sin, his addictions, his suicidal tendencies were just too big to overcome. I gave up hope for him. So, about two years ago I also gave up praying for him.

I don’t think God was very happy with that decision. He sees someone very scared, very lonely and very sick in need of help and in need of salvation. Friday night, at the Brave conference, as I was lost in worship, God broke my heart once again for this person. I wept with conviction and knew that I needed to lift this lost soul up in prayer every day. My hope began to be restored.

Then on Saturday, at one of the breakout sessions, the speaker handed out bookmarks and mine read:

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and

sings the tune without words, and never stops at all.” 

Emily Dickinson

“...and never stops at all.” Hope never stops.

Then, because I am sometimes dense and need God to tell me something over and over again, on Sunday, Pastor Pat said, “If we say that someone can't overcome an addiction, then we are really saying that God is not big enough to release them from it.” I never want to be the one to say that.

I wish I could say that this individual has been released from these chains of darkness, but at this moment, that is not the case. However, my hope has been restored and my prayers for him are being said daily and sometimes hourly.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12