Heaviness VS Hope

This was the title of Pastor Gore's message yesterday morning. The message and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. It was a message directly from his heart, but I know it spoke to many folk sitting in those pews. I, for one, related to everything he said. Sometimes, as he pointed out, we forget there is hope amidst all the heaviness in our lives. We become so consumed in the things that are causing us such pain and sorrow that we don't see the "light at the end of the tunnel".
There was one part of the message that spoke to me - and that was when our spirits are heavy, the song leaves our heart. Our shoulders even have that slump or heavy burden look. How true that is for me. It's as if life's melodies just disappeared and I didn't bother to look for them. I didn't grab for the hope for a long time. It's funny how cloudy our "vision" becomes, as if we are the only ones in the world with any kind of problem. I know we are to expect trials - its part of God forging us - but I never really thought of it as "heaviness", and you know, that is exactly what it is. I thank God for the hope He gives us amidst the heaviness of life. And I thank God for Pastor Gore and his sensitive openness and for sharing from the pulpit the "light" of hope that God put in his heart, something much needed by ALL of us.