Hope Discovery of the Day:
Our circumstances are temporary. Hope in God is eternal.
Scripture of the Day:
1 Timothy 4:8b-10
“ But godliness is valuable in every way. It holds promise for the present life and for the life to come. In fact, this is why we work hard and struggle because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of believers.”
Sitting awkwardly on the tissue paper covered obgyn chair in a cold doctor’s office, I felt even the stable chair could not hold me up. Twenty weeks pregnant, I had been given some devastating “facts” or “statistics”. It seemed like there was no way around the harsh reality that my son had a cyst on his brain. His chances of surviving? Minimal. The advice I received? End the pregnancy. “Ma’am, I know you believe in God, but . . .”
As the statistics poured through my brain, I chose to focus on God’s word and His promises, instead. The doctor looked at me, befuddled. How could I have a peaceful countenance at a time like this? He thought I must have misunderstood his assessment. I got it. I just chose not to believe it. More than that, I chose to trust that God would somehow use this painful possibility for my good and His glory.
As they completed the second ultrasound to confirm their first test results a few weeks earlier, I sat there and I hoped. I prayed. I reflected on God’s Word and His promises. Several doctors poured into the office, stared at the image of my son’s brain, then left the room. Back and forth they went until finally my doctor came and stood before me in disbelief. “The cyst is not there anymore”, he said, quizzically.
Nope, it wasn’t. And my son is now eighteen years old. Many, and I mean many, such situations like this have occurred in my life. Times when God miraculously healed and other times when He didn’t . . . at least not physical healing. My hope has held up in all the turbulent and calming waves life has brought my way because my God has been my God in all of it.
[Tweet “Hoping says there is a chance that we can make a difference. Giving up shuts down that possibility. “]
Giving up is not an option
It hurts to hope in the face of insurmountable facts. Life can sucker punch you sometimes and leave you wanting to hang up your hope rather than hanging onto it. Why bother hoping when things look bleak?
Giving up is not an option, well not a good one, anyway. There is no hope in it. Hoping says there is a chance that we can make a difference, that things can turn around. Giving up shuts down that possibility. But sometimes we are weary and don’t have the “chutzpah” to keep going. This is when we need truth to be the wind in our sails to refute the damage that lies and a grim reality have caused.
Truth is our Fuel
Staring at our circumstances can discourage us, but looking past them into God’s purposes transforms our hopelessness with God’s promises. Truth empowers us to continue trusting God and to turn a deaf ear to the noisy reality around us that tries to crush our hope.
[Tweet “Our circumstances are temporary. Hope in God is eternal.”]
Purpose in the Pain
If our hope is superficial, it only hopes when things go our way. We can overcome such a “surfacy” mentality, though, by knowing and believing that God has a purpose that will make our temporary suffering worth it. He also can help us to hope when we just can’t.
Hoping is our “Why”
Hoping is what gets us out of the bed in the morning, what rejuvenates our prospect at the future to come. Hope gives us purpose and an assurance that our efforts are not in vain. But hoping takes us one step further. It reminds us that our great God knows the end and somehow He will use our mess in amazing ways. Our circumstances are temporary. Hope in God is eternal.
Seeing Hope
When we look at Christ, we see hope. We see our God was willing to come and live out a life bent on hope. Focusing on Christ, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, we can endure whatever life sends our way because we know what it is accomplishing.