The Power of Hope

Yesterday my pastor continued his current sermon series teaching through the book of Romans, and the passage for this week included one of my favorite verses – Romans 15:13: “. . . God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him.  Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Have you ever felt hopeless?  If you have, then you understand the power of hope in a person’s life.  There was a time in my life several years ago when many things looked so bleak that I experienced a complete loss of hope and a real lack of purpose.  I knew God was the answer, but I struggled to feel his presence and to fully embrace the hope that only he can give.

But after many months of hopelessness, God brought this verse, Romans 15:13, to my attention and helped me to understand it better.  He showed me that hope doesn’t come from my circumstances or my feelings, but from God himself – the source of hope.  He also showed me that he is the one who can fill me with joy and peace, which I lacked at that time, and that hope, joy and peace were his gracious gifts to me.  My only job in this process was to trust in him. 

Sometimes we try to manufacture our own hope or joy or peace by looking at life and whatever our situation is at the time and taking things into our own hands.  But hope has already been given to us by God when we choose to trust in him and follow his Word.  Here are a few of the aspects of hope that we can look forward to:  hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2); hope of permanent righteousness (Galatians 5); hope of bodily redemption (Romans 8:23-25); and hope of a glorious inheritance (Ephesians 1:18). 

 

Even more encouraging, however, is the hope that is ours right now in the midst of life’s ups and downs – the living hope we have because Jesus Christ is in us (Colossians 1:27).  The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us that God’s promises are so sure that they give us a hope that is an anchor for our souls (Hebrews 6:19).  We all need an anchor that holds us steady and firm no matter what life brings. 

I can’t help but think about the words of an old hymn we used to sing:  On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand – because my hope is built on nothing less than Christ!  

Master Designer

 

I had a conversation with a friend at our church picnic yesterday that helped me decide what to write about today.  She was telling me about a recent trip where they visited a local landmark building, and she noticed how well designed everything was architecturally.  It seemed impossible to her while viewing this manmade structure how anyone could praise the feats of humans and yet believe that the universe we live in “just happened”. 

I have always said that it takes more faith to believe what science wants us to believe about creation than to just believe the truth of God’s Word: “. . . in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).  Our own recent trip, along with many other trips I have taken in the past, reinforces this.  There is just too much intricacy and variety in nature to ever believe that there wasn’t a master designer behind it.

 

As a photographer, I am often overwhelmed by what God has created.  Every flower is unique, every cloud formation looks different, and every sunset has its own colors.  Every panoramic view of mountains and hills contains distinctive layers of beauty.  Even scientists know that no two snowflakes are the same.  And what we see every day doesn’t even take into account the vast behind-the-scenes workings of nature and its perfect balance that we take for granted.

There was a song from my youth called “Master Designer” that comes to mind:

Cotton candy clouds, so fluffy and white,
Who put you there in a sky of deep blue?
Or do you just happen to float along,
Pretty and white in a sky so blue?

Tall mountain, deep valley, fast river, cool stream,
Show grandeur and majesty in some grand scheme
All of these wonders that we behold,
Are only a part – it cannot be told.

Master Designer, Whoever You are,
All of this beauty both near and afar
Can’t just have happened, the odds are too great,
There must be a plan, we’re not left to fate.

All of this beauty is far too convincing
Master Designer, Your word must be true
Of all Your creations man is the dearest
Help me to simply believe now in You.

Why do we always want to complicate everything so much?  In our efforts to understand everything, we have lost the joy of simple belief and wonder.  God is God, and we are not; and I’m okay with that.  I’m also extremely grateful for the amazing gift of beauty he has given us in the earth he created for us.  We should never let a day go by without stopping to notice and appreciate something that God has given us for our enjoyment – a flower, a mountain, a sunset, a river, a tree, and so much more.  My goal is to pay attention every day!  

 

Beyond "I Do"

This week I’m thinking about weddings and marriage.  That’s because in a couple of days my husband and I will celebrate 37 years of married life.  Every year we play an audio tape (no videos way back when!) of our wedding ceremony and remember those two young people whose voices we don’t even recognize anymore.  But we also remember what the pastor who married us and the songs we chose had to say – words that still ring true today.

There are two main passages of Scripture that talk about marriage.  The first one is in Genesis when God created Adam and Eve.  Because Eve was actually created out of Adam (by using one of his ribs), Genesis 2:24 says that a married man and woman become one flesh (the verse begins with the word “therefore”, thus linking these two thoughts in a cause-and-effect relationship). 

The second Scripture is in Ephesians 5, where the apostle Paul talks about the roles of and relationship between husbands and wives.  This is the passage that we asked our pastor to speak on at our wedding.  In a day of women’s liberation and other rebellions to the status quo, we knew that it was important for us to understand what God’s Word had to say about marriage in order for us to choose his way instead of the voices of our peers.  As our pastor pointed out that day, hidden in language of submission and respect that many find abrasive is a profound truth: marriage is intended to be God’s picture on earth of the reality of Christ and his church – a perfect relationship that fulfills God’s purposes and brings great joy.  

My husband and I have not succeeded in perfectly embodying what God intended for our marriage.  As all other humans through the ages have, we have made many mistakes.  But we can still see glimpses of God’s purposes for each of us when we look at our relationship – a union like no other friendship either of us has, and a small reflection of what being in relationship with God means for each of us. 

Just like the oneness that is unique between husband and wife, our individual relationships with God through Christ produce oneness with our Creator.  As 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “. . . he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.”  The Holy Spirit is the gift God has given us that proves that he abides in us and we abide in him (1 John 4:13).  He has chosen to love us and allow us to enter into unique relationship with him, in spite of our flaws and sins, because of Christ’s death and resurrection.  And he has chosen to give us a beautiful picture of that relationship that we get to experience every day in our marriages – no matter how imperfect they are compared to his ideal.

So many in our society see marriage as a selfish road to their own happiness.  A “what’s in it for me?” mentality has invaded our thinking and defiled what God had in mind.  But we do well to remember that marriage as God intended it is so much bigger than what we get out of it.  While marriage has many benefits that we get to enjoy, it’s not even about us.  It’s about God and how much he loves us and what our relationship with him is all about.  How privileged we are to be a part of telling his story to the world – just by living his truth in our marriages!