How many of us have gone out ready to win the world, full of hope, dreams, and ambitions only to return gleaning sheaves of empty hopes and promises?

Posted by Pastor Narda Goodson, First Lady of Whitewright, Texas

How many of us have gone out ready to win the world, full of hope, dreams, and ambitions only to return gleaning sheaves of empty hopes and promises? Raped and victimized by this thing call life? That education you invested so much time and money or that marriage of many years that ended up in heart-breaking divorce, the ministry your poured into, the people you faithfully served that turned out to be a disappointment, the business deal that never took off, or the business that went bankrupt? How about the dream of motherhood and life-long parenting, only for it to be shattered by miscarriages, the inability to conceive, or death?

Have you gone out like Naomi, which means "pleasant, lovely, and delightful", only to come back Mara, "bitter and sad"? Naomi knew the joy of going out full and the devastation of coming back empty. She knew what it felt like to have dreams dissipate like smoke rings in thin air.

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