Hope

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October 16

Wednesday, October 16th, 2024

See if any of these (or those like them) sound familiar:

  • I sure hope it doesn’t rain today.
  • I hope he isn’t mad at me.
  • I hope my car starts with it being so cold.
  • I hope my team wins.
  • I hope I pass this test.
  • I hope you like what I made.

We say that a lot: “I hope.” So much so that I suspect that it loses its oomph. It also loses its strength of meaning.

Look deeply at hope. At your way of expressing it. Your source for hope. Consider this: we are often so intent on finding hope that we lose sight of the truth that the source of hope is right next to us. Hope will never be found horizontally-at least not the eternal kind that God promises us. God doesn’t just promise hope. God doesn’t just give us hope. He is the SOURCE of hope. In fact, God is hope.

Paul David Tripp in his book, O Come Let Us Adore Him” (yes, I’m reading Christmas devotionals 🙂 ), writes:

“It’s true that hope isn’t a thing; it’s a person, and His name is Immanuel. Celebrate hope this Christmas.” (p.93)

Hope is found in the Christmas message. In fact, it is just one of the messages in the Christmas story. But, in reality, you can have hope all year ’round by focusing-not on people, places or things-but on Jesus. Start your Christmas early (Hallmark has already so you might as well join in) by seeking hope in Immanuel, Jesus, the Son of God.

{Note: There will no devotional tomorrow unless I get a wild hair. Braden, our grandson, celebrates his 18th birthday tomorrow as well as Senior Night on Friday as a member of the Worthington Kilbourne football team. We will be in Ohio starting today through Saturday celebrating him and getting to see our daughter and Mike, her significant other. Prayers would be appreciated for safe travel}

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February 13

Tuesday, February 13th, 2024

On my mind this morning when I woke up; when I rode my bike on my inside trainer; as I took a shower and dressed; and now as I sit and read my Bible at the table is a task-something I will do today…

I will attend a visitation and funeral of the friend of one of our new young ladies in the church.

She drank herself to death. That is harsh to say, I know, but even though only 30, her body said, “Enough.” It came to that point of her liver and kidneys failing due to alcohol abuse and past cancer treatments.

She is not alone. It is almost like an epidemic. People who lose hope. More specifically, young people who have lost hope. I guess we expect it more from an older person who can say, “I’ve lived my life. It is time for me to go.” But a young person? That cuts. Losing hope knows no age limits. It knows no status (Hollywood stars for example). It knows no financial acumen (the rich or the poor).

When did people lose hope? Please don’t fall back on COVID, although I am convinced it may have exacerbated it. Isolation. Loneliness. But I ask again: when did people lost hope? When did they lose sight of what David wrote: “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”? (Ps. 139:17-18). Maybe a better question is, “Did they ever know they were valuable to God?”

There seems to be no doubt that we are living in a hopeless generation and it is tragic that so many are living in such despair that they either want to end it all, give up, or in the case like this just simply say, “What’s the use?” and stop fighting for life. If we could only get back to what David wrote earlier in Psalm 139: “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.” (verses 7-10). Those aren’t words of lament, of complaining about God’s presence. They are words of triumph. Of joy. Of hope.

Something there is just too little of these days. But something offered to us by the One who gave and gives us life.

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December 20

Wednesday, December 20th, 2023

One of my blogging friends, Martha Jane Orlando, blogs at Meditations of my Heart.  She recently wrote and posted a simple but profound poem. You can find her blog and the poem here. To save you some time on the poem, here it is: “Holy candles/Lit in hope/Peace and joy/Laced in love/Everlasting/Flames ablaze/Light profound/Darkness flees/When God surrounds/The Soul and self. Amen”

That simple poem carries the essence of the Christmas story. Or maybe I should the essence of what we are looking for in the Christmas story or Christmas season. We all long for hope. We all long for peace. We all long for joy. We all long for love. If what I write is not true, check out the many Christmas songs we sing. How many of them talk about one of those 4 longings?

The story of Christmas, and yes, even the season of Christmas for those not even interested in the deeper story, draws people to those 4 longings in some way.  Sadly, there will be many who will seek the answer to those longings in the temporary-a relationship, a drink, a sentiment, a party with friends, even ringing a bell. But in the long run those 4 longings won’t be answered in or with the temporary. No, as Martha says, “Light profound/Darkness flees/When God surrounds/the Soul and self.” Profound and everlasting change will come only when the Eternal Father (God) surrounds us with His presence. When the baby in the manger, God made flesh, becomes more than a prop in a play. When the angels are more than dressed-up kids in white sheets and the wise men are more than kids in bathrobes. 🙂 Only when the truth of the Christmas story becomes more than a cute sentiment will those 4 longings become a permanent part of our lives.

Thank you, Martha, for the simple, yet insightful poem. Thank you, God, for the answer to the longings of each and every heart: love, joy, peace and hope…Jesus Christ, the baby born in the manger. The King who became a baby, who became a sacrifice, who is now a King again…AND WILL COME AGAIN AS KING.

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June 18

Friday, June 18th, 2021

HOPE.

An ‘oft used word:

  • “I hope it does/doesn’t rain today.”
  • “I hope it’s a boy/girl.”
  • “I hope my son/daughter gets a scholarship.”
  • “I hope God comes through for me.”
  • “I hope my new job is a good one.”

So many different ways we use the word hope.  Truth? We. all. want. and. need. hope. You take away hope and all you’ve got is a shell of a person left. You can see this in a person who has received the big “C” diagnosis and only given weeks to live. You see it in a parent’s worst nightmare-the loss of a child. From the biggest thing to a minor thing, we can see our lives are fueled and driven by hope. 

“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” So says the old hymn.

Hope relying on things or people or circumstances will not last or hold together. Hope relying on horizontal fulfillment will not last. Only hope found vertically will stand the test of time and can be counted on.

You see…hope that lasts can only be found in a Person, that Person is Jesus. Hope found in Him will not disappoint us. (Romans 5:1-5) It will, instead, be the rock we can stand upon.

“Father, may my hope be in You and You alone. Take away all desires to find the answer to hope horizontally. Help me to push aside all the other imposters to Your throne.”

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March 12

Friday, March 12th, 2021

I want to continue with my thoughts on gratitude.

I Cor.13 tells us “These three remain-faith, hope, and love-but the greatest of these is love.” (13:13). I’d like to think about those three words when it comes to gratitude.

FAITH. We often hear Hebrews 11:1 quoted: “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” (NLT)  The kind of gratitude which should flow from us is the kind which comes from trusting in the absolute and total lordship of Jesus, that He is sovereign over all things and that includes what happens in our lives. All events. All circumstances. IN. HIS. HANDS. God wastes nothing.

HOPE. The one quality which holds us together. It is fine believing and trusting. But hope tells us there is both a purpose and an end.  Faith tells us nothing was wasted, hope tells us nothing will be wasted. If we know there is an end-even though we cannot see it-we can hold on.

LOVE. The very culmination of it all. God’s love overrides evil, oversees every event, and overwhelms us with the glory of His Presence. It is this love which took Him to the cross and it is this same love that will bring us home.

“Father, may faith, hope and love be evident in my gratitude. My head says, ‘You know all that is going on.’ Please convince my heart with your overwhelming love.”

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October 28

Wednesday, October 28th, 2020

As I was reading during my Quiet Time this morning, I ran across a word that appears to be missing in our world, and specifically, in so many lives today.  You can find the word throughout the Bible but hardly a more poignant reminder than Romans 5. Here is what it says: “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces HOPE, and HOPE does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been give to us.” (vv.3-5)

See the word? H.O.P.E.  How many people do you know today who are without it? Many don’t see hope. They see despair. Cities burning. Protests still going on. People being killed. Crime escalating. Fighting. Division. Injustice. It is easy to give up hope that things will be better.

That would be human nature. It would be easy to feel like Jeremiah, Elijah, Micah and others who, at times, wanted to quit and give up. Habakkuk asked the question many of us ask, “How long, O Lord, how long?” (1:2)

We can choose despair or hope. As a Christ-follower, I have a hope others don’t. It is a hope that does not put us to shame, does not disappoint. We are never left alone. Even in the darkest times, we have a light that shines.

“Father, thank you for hope that shines its light into the darkness of despair. Help me share the hope I have in You with others.”

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