Hope

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.—John 3:16

Whether or not you’re a believer, there’s a good chance you have heard this verse.  Many of us memorized it as a child, likely in the King James Version.  Sports fans hold it up on signs, dusty semis on the interstate have it ‘written’ in the dirt on the trailer door…this verse pops up in what may seem unlikely places.  Why is that?  Why is it this verse over any of the others?

In a popular faith-based movie, the statement is made, “Atheism doesn’t take away the pain, it just takes away the hope.”  The hope that is found in John 3:16 is the hope on which we hang every part of our faith.  First, hope is found in that God loved.  God is not merely a mean and vengeful being planning to smite us for every mistake we make.  No, He loved.  Who?  The whole world.  He continues to love every person on this planet, whether they believe in Him or not, whether they call another far less worthy being their God.  I believe this verse, though, focuses on a moment….a moment that God made the choice, out of love, to do something drastic.

What was the drastic thing God did?  Keep reading the verse.  He gave.  The second way we see hope in this verse is that God is an incredibly generous God.  He gave his one and only Son.  If you are a parent, imagine that.  He allowed His only child to die for someone else’s benefit.  I love my girls so much that I would die to save them, but would I hand them over to face death on someone else’s behalf?  I’ll be honest.  I couldn’t do it.  

Why did God make this choice?  That’s the third way we see hope in this verse—God is forgiving.  Without His drastic choice, there would be no way we could overcome all the mistakes we make, no way to get back to the God who created us.  He wants us to be with Him and did whatever it took to make sure it was possible.  His Son was the only sacrifice big enough, holy enough, and perfect enough to wipe out all our mistakes, to take on all our bad, and replace it with all God’s good.  

That’s a lot packed into one sentence.  Perhaps that’s why it’s displayed and quoted so often.  Realizing the gift of hope can be ours is where faith begins.  Accepting it is simple-simple enough to fit in one sentence—we just have to believe.  

Possible

“Who then can be saved?”  But Jesus looked at [the disciples] and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” —Matthew 19:25b-26

I had a completely different plan for this verse, but as often happens, God had a different plan.  Something happened today that rattled me to the core and broke my heart.  

Someone close to me professed to be an atheist.  

I’ll refer to this person simply as Friend to maintain gender neutrality and anonymity.  Please don’t ask me to reveal more or attempt to guess who it might be.  

Friend believes that God is not superior to other gods, that science is more logical, and that certain faith tenets are merely lies.  This is so hard for me to understand when there is evidence all around us that God indeed does exist, evidence that He loves us, and instances of circumstances that can only be explained by His involvement in our lives.  And though I want so badly for Friend to see these things and agree with me, God does not force us to love Him.  He gave us free will to choose or reject Him.  And He sent His Son to die for us knowing full well that some won’t accept the gift that action provided.  

I’ve certainly argued my point with Friend, but sometimes the only, and always the best, thing one can do is pray.  My prayer is that God will make Himself so obvious to Friend that His presence, His sovereignty, His superiority, and most of all, His love will be undeniable.  I pray that Friend’s heart will soften and beliefs will change.  

Today’s verse answers Friend better than I ever could.  NO ONE can save us except God.  No man, no list of rules, no theories or scientific claims can do what only God can.  

Will you join me in praying for Friend?  Please comment below if you will.

Example

Pray then like this:  “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.—Matthew 6:9-13

The Lord’s Prayer is a piece of scripture many of us memorized, likely in the old King James version, as children.  I can even remember reciting it daily before lunch in my public elementary school!  And though it may still be committed to memory, have you ever considered why this is such an important prayer?

I believe the most important part of this prayer lies in the first four words, “Pray then like this”. Jesus taught this prayer to give us an example of how to talk to His Father.  I certainly don’t think He meant for us to only pray this prayer every time.  If that were the case, perhaps He would have just said, “pray this”, but he said “like this”.  

So, “Like what?”, you may ask.  Look how the prayer starts.  It starts with offering respect and praise to God—hallowed be your name— simply for who He is.  Next comes a promise of submission—your will be done.  That’s a tough one, huh?!  It’s not always easy to ask God simply for His will to be done, especially if we haven’t matched up our will with His yet.  Next finally come the requests for help and forgiveness.  It’s tempting sometimes to just jump right in asking God for what we want or need, forgetting that God deserves our respect and obedience first, without expectation of receiving anything.  

Just as a student textbook is filled with examples of how to do the homework problems, the Bible serves as our textbook of how to be followers of Jesus.  Through the stories Jesus told, the actions He took, the way He dealt with people, and through clear advice like in these verses, Jesus teaches us by His examples, too.  And just as when we were students in a classroom, we have to study and practice in order to learn. 

Plans

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.—Jeremiah 29:11

This week I visited a friend and her daughter in the hospice care room for her husband.  We talked a lot about the process of dying and how watching a loved one slowly decline and shut down makes for a very different grieving process.  She and her daughter are saying goodbye hour by hour, it seems, so the grieving has begun well before their husband and father has left this world.  

My friend spoke about knowing her husband can hear her even though he doesn’t always visibly respond when she speaks.  She felt a strong need to tell him, as she watched his struggle for breath at times, to just let go.  She felt he was worried for her and their daughter about how they were going to make it and who was going to take care of them.  She assured him that they would be okay, that he needn’t worry, that they would be fine.  

Jeremiah 29:11 assures us this is true.  I think God sometimes whispers in our ear, knowing we hear Him even though we might not visibly respond, to just let go.  We hang on to our own plans, our own desires, and definitely our own worries.  But God has a plan—a plan to prosper us, a plan for a good life!  He’s simply waiting for us to let go of our own agendas and let Him put His plan into action.  And when we do, we can stop worrying and struggling, resting assured that things will be okay.

Wings

But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. —Isaiah 40:31

I’ve spent quite a number of days contemplating this verse.  It’s a familiar verse, so I didn’t want to just gloss over it and assume I knew what God was trying to say to me through it.  That’s the awesome thing about God’s Word.  He may use the very same verse one has read many times over to say something completely different.  

Also, in the midst of a very busy two weeks of sporting events with my family, sitting down to write seemed like an extravagance.  My head was full of to-do list items, and I couldn’t seem to focus enough to sit down and put words to paper.  So, as this piece of the Word, ironically teaching about waiting on God, drifted in and out of my consciousness, I knew the best thing was to wait….wait until the meaning was unmistakably clear to write anything down.

Several thousand feet above the ground while traveling with my family to a gym meet, I was looking out my plane window admiring the view.  See, I’m not at all bothered by heights.  In fact, I enjoy the birds-eye view of the world so far below me.  It always makes me wish I could fly, not in a plane but like a bird, soaring about with the wind swishing past me.  That’s when it hit me.  

God knows my desires.  He knows what scares me, what excites me, and He knows my struggles.  He promises me that if I wait on His guidance, His leading, that I won’t have to struggle or be afraid.  He’ll give me the energy and the strength to do the task He has for me.  Then I will soar about, flying high on the blessings He gives through my obedience.  And not flying like a little robin, but like an eagle, majestic and bold through His power.  What a rush! 

In our hurry-up world, we tend to rush things just to mark them off a list or just to get what we want.  Let’s pray that God will work on our patience to wait so that we can do His will, follow His lead, and earn our eagle wings.

Vain

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.  —Proverbs 31:30

I had lots of tasks to accomplish yesterday.  First and foremost on the list was to get my driver’s license renewed since it would expire at the end of the day!  After that would be a visit to a bookstore during their closing sale.  A family member works there, and through her I’ve gotten to know the owner over the years.  The visit would be shopping plus a social call.  Next would be lunch with a friend whom I don’t see as often as in previous years.  Finally, I would head to my shop.  There, it was a night full of visitors.  

After closing, my oldest daughter looked at me and asked if I was okay.  Wondering what prompted that, I answered yes and gave her a questioning look.  She told me that I looked pale and maybe even a little sick.  Since I felt fine, I was a bit taken aback by her assessment.  She took a closer look at my face and then asked, “Mom, did you forget to put makeup on today???”  Now I don’t wear much, only some eyeliner and mascara, but I do that every single morning of every single day so of course I wouldn’t forget….would I?

As I felt my eyelashes to find them clean and bare, I couldn’t believe she was right!  Was I becoming senile at such a **cough** young age?  When I thought back to my morning routine to figure out how I had forgotten, I remembered thinking about my driver’s license photo.  I had to make sure my hair was just so and sprayed down well to keep the static from making me look like a crazy person.  I also had to pick out just the right shirt because, hello, this photo stays with you for four whole years!  I can’t be looking out of style on my ID before it expires.  

There was the problem.  I let vanity take over my morning.  I let my appearance be my main concern for the day.  The funny thing is, upon discovering my error, I actually sent a message to two of the women with whom I had spent time explaining why I might have looked odd.  You know what?  Both of them said they didn’t even notice.  

Now, this is no testament to my natural beauty (again, **cough**).  It’s more a confession of my shallow concerns.  My friends didn’t care about my face.  My friends cared about catching up, about sharing our lives with each other, and about laughing together.  They care about me enough to not notice the outside.  

If my friends can offer me this kind of grace, imagine how much more grace Jesus offers us.  He looks past the outside appearance, past the vanity, past the wrinkles and the scars.  He sees the heart instead and all the possibilities for good that He can bring forth.  He sees someone with whom He shares life and for whom He gave his own life.  He sees perfection despite the flaws, made possible by His grace, no makeup necessary.  

Train UP

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.  —Proverbs 22:6

I would say this verse is one of the most challenging verses that a parent could read.  

My two girls are as different as night and day.  The oldest is Type A, perfectionistic, head strong, a rule follower, and stubborn.  She’s very rooted, sentimental, and resistant to change.  In other words, she’s a lot like her mother.  The youngest is Type B, laid-back, a rule-bender, an adventurer, has wings instead of roots, and is sentimental about nothing.  Because she & I are so different, I struggle with understanding her and, therefore, with correcting her.  Because the two are opposites, the same discipline doesn’t work on both of them.  What finds the hurt, so to speak, in one doesn’t even phase the other.  

How, then, do we accomplish the difficult job of successful parenting?  I think the key can be found in the second word of the verse—up.  It’s my prayer that my girls will leave our home someday not just with the knowledge of how to be a good adult, but with the knowledge of how to be a follower of Jesus—to focus their eyes ‘up’ on His ways, His leading, and His mission for their lives.  That means Jamie & I have to exhibit the same behavior, showing them what it looks like to submit to God’s leading.  If we can accomplish that, the rest will fall into place as a result.  Not an easy task as we are far from perfect, but one for which we must strive.