A Story Of Hope

I've been going through a very difficult eight or nine years for various reasons. When I was getting my Bachelors Degree at NAU I remember going into the bathroom one time and crying. I said, "God, I am losing hope." I really felt like all hope was lost.

Then I looked at the floor of the bathroom and there was a ring. The ring had 'Hope' written on the outside of it. God gave me my hope back.

Here's the ring. I still have it to this day. I keep it to remind me to never give up hope even when things seem impossible or like I can't go on.

6559812 That's pretty darn cool.

6560740 It definitely made my day/ week/ year/ existence. God is good.

6559812 Was the ring there even before you entered the bathroom or did God magic it there?

I wonder what happened to the person who lost the hope the day you found it.

6561364 Maybe it just appeared. God works in mysterious ways.

I asked around to see if anyone had lost the ring and even asked student services if anyone had reported a ring missing, but no one said they were looking for a ring or that they had lost it.

6561460 Do you believe items such as this pop in and out of reality frequently?

Why doesn't god just magic a statue at the top of a hill? It would make everyone a believer. The way he managed that ring is as if He wants us to think He isn't there. Does then being a believer go against God's wishes?

6561711 The Bible has some good verses about this subject.

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” - Mark 10:27

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” - Luke 18:27

“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” - Mark 9:23

I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? - Jeremiah 32:27

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” - Matthew 19:26

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” - Matthew 17:20

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.” - Matthew 21:21

There are lots of other verses on this subject. It's a great thing to look into.

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if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.

Why has this not happened in all of history? Does it mean that every single person who ever existed had less faith than a mustard seed?

6561913 There are lots of true stories about miracles. They are fun to look up and read.

One of my favorites is a true story about a lady from Australia who had a cyclone blow money into her yard for months when she needed it.

There are others if you look them up.

6561988 I doubt money was magiced. Each bill has a unique serial number. If God did that, He must have stolen the money from somewhere.

What is your explanation why no mountain was ever moved? Do you think you could move a mountain by telling it to move? Is your faith greater than a mustard seed?

6562016 I don't have all of the answers. I'm just a mortal on a small blue globe suspended in space.

No one human has all of the answers.

I leave the explanations to the creator of all things.

6562035 I'm at odds because the things that are written don't happen in real life. It feels as if the stories are separate from reality.

6562066 You've got to walk your own path, see what you see, experience life as it comes, and be who'll you'll be.

We all view the world based on our experiences.

Think of your experiences. What have they taught you about life?

God is in the details. Pay attention to the details and you'll have all of the answers you need.

6562075 Let me tell you a story,

There were two kids. One had rich parents and they paid for the best tutors to school him. The other was from a poor single mum family. She officially said she's homeschooling her daughter to save some money, but unofficially, she didn't know enough of anything to be teaching.

Then came the time for the test. The rich kid knew all the answers and aced it. The poor kid didn't even know there would be a test until it was too late and knew zero answers. She failed.

The powers that be said to the rich kid, you passed our test, you can go to an elite school called Heaven. To the poor kid they said, "Ye have little knowledge. We banish you to the workcamp called Hell."

The poor kid protested, "How could I have possibly passed the test? I was provided with zero knowledge about it."

They said to him, "You should have looked around and see the vast knowledge around you. You should have experienced it and learn from it. Knowledge is in the details. If you paid attention to the details you'd gain all the knowledge you needed."

"You could have at least sent me a mail that there would be a test..." The kid said and walked toward the bus that had Hell written on it. "I was doomed to fail from the start..."

6563062 That sounds more like an economic situation than a religious situation.

There is economic disparity in the world because humans have created the need to use money.

When you have a system of needing money/ things, you will always have people who try to take all of the money/ things for themselves and leave very little left for others to take. That is just human nature/ greed.

In a perfect world (one where God is on the earth), people don't need money. They can have anything they want because God just makes it appear.

The Bible has a lot of great verses about God supplying your every need. I know in my life, even though I have gone through many financial hard times (especially over the past eight or nine years) I have always somehow been able to pay the bills. I've come close to homelessness four or five (or more probably at this point) times, but I've always been saved from it. I might not always have clothes, or food, or other necessities, but I am always able to pull through and make it.

My mom and I help a family friend of ours who lives in Uganda. Sometimes she only has oil and flour in the house to feed her children because she can't get a job/ afford to get an education to get work. That is how they keep the people poor. Yet she has a lot of faith and believes God will supply her every need, and he does.

No matter what human greed has done to people to cause them to be in financially tough situations, God is always bigger than that.

The Bible also has a lot of verses about God's mercy and willingness to accept anyone into heaven. In fact there were many murderers, and worse in the Bible that were forgiven for their sins.

Humans like to condemn and think of the worse situations. But God is endless love and forgiveness. Anything that does not line up with the message of love, forgiveness, peace, and all of the good attributes of existence are not of God.

6563213 I was referring to lack of knowledge. The money was just one of the possible means to gain such knowledge.

The point I was making is that there may or may not be a test at the end for which we're supposed to prepare for without having explicit instructions on how to do it. There are 40k different denominations just for Christianity, each trying to feed you a different story.

Imagine trying to prepare for a test while having 40 000 conflicting books at your disposal, each one of them also conflicting with your RL observation. Good luck on your test.

To form my point into a question, why didn't all the people of the world find their own hope ring. Why do you get to be the privileged one while the rest are denied such hints?

6563361 I believe God is calling out to the hearts of all people. He is in everything that is good. It is about following a religion. It is about recognizing that God is love and he is in everything.

I've never viewed it like passing a test. There's really nothing to pass or fail.

Jesus hung out with what the world would consider to be weird or broken. He hung out with the prostitutes, the poor, the untouchables, and what society called useless. Yet he specifically said he loves those people because he can build them up whole again.

The world has a certain way of defining things. People created religion. But Jesus said that the church is inside all of us. We all carry God within.

God's message is one of love and unity. If you seek to be good, it satisfies the God that is already in you.

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There's really nothing to pass or fail.

God is in everything is like saying knowledge is all around. It sounds nice, but it won't help you pass the test.

Heaven or Hell sound like passing or failing to me.

And there's been just as much bad done in the name of God than good. Even God has a share amount of genocides under His belt.

6563445 Judgement comes from humans. Mercy and love comes from God.

People start wars for any reason. God commanded people to get along and love one another.

The issues of the world are caused by people who are deceived and follow evil instead of good.

If people follow good they have no reason to start wars with other people and make the excuse it is because of 'religion', which is also manmade.

6563457 God also commanded people to kill.

There's also a matter of what good is. What is good for one person may be bad for another.

6563478 There is a difference between good and evil.

Evil seeks to devour and destroy. Good seeks to give and build.

Good gives unconditionally. Evil always has a condition for giving, with a steep price to pay when it comes time to collect.

There is a very big difference between good and evil.

It's an interesting discussion topic, for sure.

6563498 Would you consider destroying most of the planet in a big flood as evil? If I were to do that tomorrow to this planet you live on, would you consider me evil?

6564279 The flood story is actually a story of renewal. In those days, gross darkness covered the land. The humans mated with the fallen angels and created the nephilim (half human/ half demon hybrids). It was crazy times. In fact this happened so often that the world was entirely ruled by the nephilim with the exception of Noah and his family (which probably referred to his extended family and tribe).

When the flood waters covered the earth, they were burying the nephilim under the waves of the water. Demons/ nephilim can't be destroyed. But they can be contained. The flood contained the nephilim. There is a reference to them returning in the Book of Revelation from their containment, which is actually somewhat of a mirror to the flood story.

In the Book of Revelation, gross darkness covers the land again. Humans also mate with the fallen angels again. But this time instead of containing the nephilim, Jesus comes back to rule on the earth once and for all.

6566842 What's wrong with mating with fallen angels? I find them quite sexy.