Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)
Hope is an integral part of our faith, but what is it really? The world tells us that hope is a feeling or a desire. That connotation hardly works in this passage. How can one hold fast to a feeling or a desire? Just because we have a feeling something will happen or we desire it does not make it a certainty. The word that Paul uses in this passage is really defined as “favorable and confident expectation”.
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Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. Philippians 3:17-19
I love music and listen to it quite a bit. Sometimes I use it to calm me or rearrange my thoughts, sometimes I listen to get motivated and at other times it’s for the pure enjoyment of it. My collection is quite varied in both genres and eras as it ranges from the 1930s to the present. Recently, I was at the gym and the song “Lady Godiva” by Peter and Gordon started playing. While some may not appreciate the song, I listen to it occasionally as a reminder to not get caught up in “lesser things”. In case you’re not familiar or haven’t heard the song in the last five decades, the lyrics tell the story of a young and beautiful woman pursues fame and fortune. In the process, she compromises and forfeits all of the things that made her beautiful, but never achieves the fame that she desires and becomes so poor that she can’t afford her clothes. God offers us so much, but too often people get off course with respect to godliness and forfeit their faith for lesser things that are useless and meaningless in light of eternity. Time and time again we are reminded in scripture to pursue God and His truth in various ways and the reasons are clearly explained to us. However, some reject the concept, some ignore it, while others struggle with it. Three reasons why it may be difficult are: hope, pride, and fear.
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Your Father knows your gifts, your hindrances, and the condition you’re in at every moment. And He also knows something you can’t possibly know–every single person who’s in desperate need of receiving His touch through you.
And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
I was recently included in an invitation to participate in an activity. For various reasons I declined; any one of them had sufficient merit to opt out, but together, the choice was self-directing. A few days after the initial invitation, a second was received. It came on a rather busy day and not wanting to forget to respond, I sent a brief message indicating my choice. Rather quickly, I received a reply questioning my decision which was followed by a volley of emails that indicated offense for both my choice and my means of communicating it. The end result was yet another hurt and a broken relationship that increased my desire to withdraw from most people and especially pull away from the Christian community.
One of the difficulties for those dealing with life’s trials and/or the ongoing challenges of chronic illness is the focus. We all face various circumstances that disappoint and frustrate us giving rise to the need of confidantes to whom we share our thoughts and occasionally vent. However, when our thoughts become self-absorbed, we lose our perspective and cause damage in our vital relationships.
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I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:1-3
In 1995 I had a grand mal seizure and was put on seizure medication without a thorough investigation of the circumstances. We would learn later that I did not need it. Problematically, if you take seizure medication and don’t need it, it can cause seizures. Consequently, for the next nine years I endured petit mals or absence seizures. The first one occurred after my wife and I returned home from a dance. While we were talking with our children, Marie noticed that my expression changed to a vacant stare. In order to avoid alarming our children she moved close to me, took my hand, lead me to our bedroom and had me sit down. In a few moments I returned to normal function. Through experimentation and discussion, we learned that while I could not initiate movement or speech, I could be led by others and I could nod faintly in response to yes or no questions. However, for the most part I was immobilized and temporarily stuck in a very confining world. As I think about those seizures, I’m reminded of times when I’ve been stuck in life. Usually, I’m immobilized by one of three things: fear, fatigue or indecision. Can you relate?
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Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
My wife and I like to dance. Considering all of the choices, the waltz is our preferred dance. I’m not talking about the basic box step, but rather moving down the line of dance with whisks, weaves, turns, etc. When a couple is dancing, the male leads. It is his responsibility to employ good technique to move the couple around the dance floor and to lead his partner in the various moves. It is up to the woman to follow. Well done, it is very beautiful and graceful. Poorly executed, it looks clumsy and can be somewhat dangerous. When I contemplate my relationship with God, I often compare it to the waltz.
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Trials should not surprise us, or cause us to doubt God’s faithfulness. Rather, we should actually be glad for them. God sends trials to strengthen our trust in Him so that our faith will not fail. Our trials keep us trusting; they burn away our self confidence and drive us to our Savior.
A man may be perfected through suffering or be made worse through suffering; it depends on his disposition.
Oswald Chambers
The Quotable Oswald Chambers
(Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers, 2008), 281
No matter what storm you face, you need to know God loves you. He has not abandoned you.
No one enjoys feeling weak, whether it is emotionally, spiritually or physically. There is something within the human spirit that wants to resist the thought of weakness. Many times this is nothing more than our human pride at work. Just as weakness carries a great potential for strength, pride carries an equally great potential for defeat.
