All tagged hope
What is God's work in the world? Different people have quite different answers to this question, but today let’s focus on removing the negative impacts of the devil on God’s creation. To do so, let’s use the words of the Apostle John helps us in this regard…
We can find ourselves waiting on the answer to a prayer that doesn’t seem to be coming, or at least coming anytime soon. We are suffering, or waiting to be rescued, and yet all we hear is the silence of God. But friends, we can rest assured of two things today; the first is that someone is experiencing this right now (possibly you) as they read these words, and the second is that help is on the way. We might lose hope as we suffer through the pain and fear in our lives, but God is ever faithful and true. When we feel lost or abandoned do we continue to pray? Or maybe we hear ourselves shouting out to the Lord in our frustration rather than finding strength in our anticipation and trust in Him.
As I read my devotional today, the words of the author, E.M. Bounds, described faith as that which "determines our relationship with God - how we deal with Him and how we see Him as the savior." I latched onto his phrase "Faith is not believing just anything. It is believing God, resting in Him and trusting His word.", but so many people have faith and hope in other things that don’t warrant their faithfulness at all. We hear this all the time. We hear people say that they have faith in this or that, a sports team, a political party, even a pastor or priest, and there doesn’t seem to be any limit as to what they will place their faith in. Do you see this too?
Do we let the happenings of the world trouble us and destroy the faith and tranquility we have in Jesus Christ? Are we so worried about what is occurring in our day to day lives that we can no longer see or feel the eternal truth, which is that Jesus suffered so we could be redeemed; and that He has brought us peace and rest? If so it is time we started stripping the meaningless outer layers away from our life of faith, and get down to the one thing that truly matters... the Cross.
Salvation... living our lives as God expects... this is just too hard and no one can possibly accomplish such a thing. I can never be saved! Is this the way you think about God’s judgement and what will become of you? Well, rejoice, because there is hope, and redemption lies just ahead.
Throughout time the people who lived out their lives in this world have been confronted by events that have challenged them as they have struggled to remain hopeful. This place has much beauty, and we can be certain that pleasures and blessings abound in abundance here, but this is also Satan’s present home, and he confronts us daily with hardship and tragedy as he seeks to destroy our faith, and our hope in God. So we struggle each day to maintain our hope, but where does it come from? Our Hope comes from the Lord, and moreover, He is our hope. Do we experience this divine hope?
Truly blessed is he who has never stood hopeless on one of life’s darkest nights, and searched for a tiny glimmer of hope. When we stand beneath a starless sky, or cower in hopelessness as storm clouds turn our day to night, where do we find the strength to believe, and the faith to hope again? Where do we turn to reclaim the lost joy that will bring light back into our lives? There is but one place for us to turn, and that is to the Lord. We cry out to Him with tears of desperation, and patiently wait upon Him with a strength that only His Holy Spirit can brings to us. We trust in our hope’s return, and have faith in Him, our strong tower, while we wait for the glow of the Lord’s righteous return.
People face many trials in their lives, and as Christians we are not exempt from them. It is common for new Christians to think that because we experience a deep seated hope in salvation that this implies that our hardships in life will vanish, but to the surprise of many we find that they do not, and are a necessary part of a robust faith. Suffering through trials increases the endurance of our faith, which in turn strengthens our character, and this leads us to an amazing hope, and at last, a confidence in our salvation through Jesus Christ. When we suffer, and we do so in Jesus, something amazing happens… our faith, and walk with Him becomes stronger, and sweeter. The confidence, and hope, we have of salvation wells up in us, and God’s will for us in Christ, extends beyond our earlier hope into reality.
We believe in God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, but although we believe, is that enough? When the Lord tells us to step out beyond our belief, in faith alone, do we have it in full measure? Can we walk into the unknown by leaning on Him completely; abandoning the comfort we have grown accustomed to, and trusting enough to journey into unknown circumstances? To receive his inheritance Abraham had to go out as God commanded him to do, and to redeem the world Jesus had to take on our sin, and venture into death. To do these things it took more than hope… it took faith, and beyond that, a firm belief.
Our faith in God grows in the lessons we learn during the trials and tribulations we face in our lives with the Lord, but the real foundation, and engine that drives it, and ultimately leads us to believe, is trusting in God’s Word. Unless we lean on God’s Word, and take it as truth, then we don’t actually believe, we have simply based our imagined religion on a golden calf we have constructed for ourselves… a fantasy.
Are we having a good day, or bad one today? I hope that this is an exceptionally good one for you, but life is also sprinkled throughout with days where we wake up wondering how we will make it, and praying for deliverance. On days such as this we need to stoke up the fire of our faith, and remember that no matter what happens during this day we are God’s children, and this is the day that He has made. It is alright to feel a sense of desperation, as a matter of fact every Bible account shows us that our Father demonstrates His greatest love, mercy, and provision, during desperate times, so if we trust, if we have faith, then He will lead us, and we will not succumb to despair, or find ourselves in the grasp of our faith’s greatest enemy… fear.
When God makes a promise to us it is His bond, and He needs no reminder of it, so why is it that we feel inclined to remind Him of His Word in our prayers? We do this, not for God’s benefit, but to remind ourselves of what He has said, insure ourselves that we are praying as we should, and to give ourselves renewed hope. Remembrance, assuredness, and hope, or in other words, His Word, His promise, and our faith, how can we possibly pray without any one of these being present… even if they manifest themselves in something as simple as a groan?
What is the condition of our hope in Jesus Christ today? Are we dejected, walking disappointedly, and in possible disbelief, towards Emmaus, or are we facing life with hopeful prayer on our lips, and with our eyes fixed on the sky as we anticipate His imminent return? Sometimes the world deals us a terrible blow that knocks the wind out of us, and we find ourselves facing a crisis of faith, but the proper way to deal with those occurrences is to redouble the intensity of our prayers, and lean on the Holy Spirit for the remembrance of all we have been promised… “I am with you always”, and “I have overcome the world.” to mention just two.
We live our lives being confronted, and buffeted at every turn, by the tribulation, pain, and suffering, that is common to this world. As we endure these challenges it is easy for us to begin believing that they will overcome us, or that they have such a hold on us that there is no escape from them, but this is not true. Suddenly, at the height of our agony, we are given a glimpse of God’s glory; sometimes for no more than an instant, or if need be, for longer, and in those moments we realize that these things we endure now are insignificant when compared to what awaits us. Our Hope, and faith, are increased many fold by these tiny visions of glory, and we are restored.
It is tempting to think that we can find life, and not only the bare necessities of life like the rise and fall of our breasts, but the rich fullness of life, in the things we are able to physically do each day. In fact our happiness, joy, and the provision of everything that sustains us is spiritual in origin. Through the love of God, the peace of Christ, and the understanding given us by the Holy Spirit, we begin to realize that without the spirit nature of who we are, we are destined to be crushed by life, and doomed to a miserable death… not of the body, but something much deeper… our souls. Jesus hung on the cross with His body dying, but His Spirit remained alive in hope, and faith. His body was suffering even as His Spirit sustained life in Him… until He committed it to God.