Archives For hope
If you are a Christian there is always reason to give thanks.
True.
But frankly life sucks at times, for Christians too. Even the Crystal Cathedral went bankrupt, the prosperity gospel ran out of cash. All of our lives have seasons where it seems there is little to give genuine thanks for.
When someone like me starts writing about giving thanks in all things while you slog through difficult times an understandable reaction is to want to tell me where to shove it.
For this reason I have been uncomfortable with the notion of listing all the blessings I can count in my life, because it could easily turn into a boasting in what I have, a thinly disguised love of the world. God does promise us many blessings, some of which are to be enjoyed in this world. However, the greatest blessings are those which are intangible and must be grasped by faith.
A particularly slippery blessing is God’s promise to always be with us:
… And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:20 ESV)
Jesus himself promised to be with us while ‘this age’ remains. In Hebrews we also have what appears to be a quote of Jesus:
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
(Hebrews 13:5 ESV)
In the gospels there are several incidents in which Jesus rebuked his disciples for their fear. The entire book of Job points to the great value of trusting in God despite overwhelming evidence causing doubt over God’s goodness. Fear is a killer of faith. But this also works in reverse – faith can kill off fear.
When you look realistically at life and cannot help the concerns over whether God really will provide running through your mind, it is not wrong to acknowledge the evidence before your eyes. With that acknowledgement, fear will arise. Faith considers that fear, accepts it as real and then adds faith into the equation.
I may look at our bank statement and see immediately there is not enough money to pay the bills. We have a fixed income so there is no room to squeeze more dollars from anywhere. Juggling bills helps a little but I still fear the prospect of simply running out and being unable to sustain my family. God makes no promise I am aware of that we will not end up in financial sewerage. However, He does promise that He will walk through the poo with me.
To some this will seem small comfort and too subjective to be of any value. I have been in much worse than financial shit and this promise of His Presence is what has kept me going. Often it was pure faith, believing that God is with me in my mess despite appearances. Occasionally I knew He was with me, strengthening my weak knees and lifting me up so I wouldn’t drown.
Intangible, yes.
Real? Definitely.
This is one of the great gifts from God which underlie my more immediate and superficial counting of blessings. The list continues to grow because I continue to need to remind myself of all I have to be thankful for and rejoice in. As a fallen creature this counting puts me in a better headspace to appreciate how awesome His greater gifts are.
Related to this topic:
- See my entire Gratitude list
- Hounded by His help
- The Gift of gifts
- God is my shield
Image: iStock
I recently read that there are 366 occurrences of the phrase “fear not” in the Bible, one for every day of the year. This seemed impressive to me and seeded an idea of meditating on each of these passages this year as a way to strengthen my faith. On doing some searching, however, I found far fewer exhortations to ‘fear not’, and a Google search confirmed that others have found the same.
Even so, there are still a lot of exhortations not to fear in the Bible. After some digging through about 140 Bible references about not fearing or being afraid I have reduced it to a list of 50 which I intend to meditate on this year.
Abram’s shield
My first verse is Genesis 15:1 in which God comes to Abram and says:
“Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
The context is that immediately previous to this Abram rescued his nephew Lot from a band of invading kings and then had encounters with Melchizedek and the king of Sodom. To one he gave a tenth of everything and from the other he refused to accept anything. In chapter 15 of Genesis God makes a further covenant with Abram, building upon the covenant of Genesis 12:1-3.
What fears might Abraham have had?
He has recently proven his courage by attacking and defeating the armies of four plundering kings (Genesis 14:1-16). Perhaps he is afraid of God’s promises failing because he has no son (Genesis 15:3)? We do know that he feared kings who desired his attractive wife (Genesis 12:1-13 and Genesis 20:2).
Whatever Abram’s true fears were, it is easy to imagine what they might have been because we are ourselves plagued by fears also. God answers all possible fears in this one statement: “I am your shield“. God will place Himself between Abram and what he fears, no force in all creation can cause harm to Abram.
Can I claim it?
What a fantastic promise! But it was made to a particular Hebrew man about 4,000 years ago – how can it be relevant to me?
Genesis 15:6 makes it relevant to me:
And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
(Genesis 15:6 ESV)
In Romans 4:3-25 Paul shows that this believing in God’s promises makes us participants in those promises also:
But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
(Romans 4:23-25 ESV)
Galatians 3:7 confirms this:
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
(Galatians 3:7 ESV)
Therefore, I can safely assume that as I trust in God who raised Jesus from the dead, He also says to me, “Fear not Mike, I am your shield.”
Try it yourself
It feels odd initially, but write out this promise from God, inserting your name instead of ‘Abram’. It becomes powerfully personal.
Related to this topic:
Image of Emblem of Jerusalem: Wikipedia
Image of fear: salvador74(iStock)
Ten years ago if I could see myself here today I’d have been gobsmacked by my complacency.
At that time I was newly married, my wife was 6 months pregnant with our first child, we were renting a cute (but chilly) cottage with a fantastic view over the city. My wife was a student at Teacher’s College and I worked as a biochemistry technician, anxious about whether funding for the position would be renewed (it wasn’t).
A lot of people are recalling what they were doing on that terrible day. A day which started as any other for all except 19 al-Qaeda terrorists. Little did we know the horror we were to see unfold on our TV and computer screens that morning. Most of us can remember exactly what we were doing when we first heard or saw the news.
I also remember that evening walking on a beach with my pregnant wife, discussing what had happened, feeling the uncertainty of what might lie ahead. Even in little Dunedin we spent the next few weeks cringing whenever an aeroplane flew low over the city. People were nervous, anxious for the future. it felt as though the world had changed.
In the months after the attack there was a surge in publication of books on ‘the end times’, I heard several sermons on the topic myself and saw plenty of interest in theories regarding whether those events signaled the beginning of the end. Obviously we are still here and still worrying about paying the bills so life has settled back into what we would generally consider normal.
Yet, while I am not convinced ‘the end is nigh’, it has been a troublesome decade. We have seen increased incidence of terrorist attacks, environmental disasters of human making, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanoes, floods, droughts, and influenza epidemics. Then there are the purely human events such as economic collapse. None of this tells us what God is doing in the world of itself but does all serve to remind us that life is precious and fragile.
As the horror of September 11, 2001 was a stark reminder of how suddenly life can be interrupted and changed forever, so too the events of the decade since then should also serve as a similar reminder. In the natural, life is not as secure as we might think. However, in Christ we are safely in His care – though that does not mean we may not suddenly be taken from this life. So let’s be thankful for today, for the moments we have here now.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
(John 10:27-29 ESV)
Gifts I have noticed this week (#613 – #625):
613) Today, this moment.
614) Each time I get to kiss my wife and children.
615) A slightly tidier front yard.
616) Remembering where to find some unusual information when it was urgently needed.
617) A gift of tickets to take my daughters to the ballet.
618) A colleague swapping shifts with me so I can see my daughters in their school performance.
619) Birdsong heralding the dawn.
620) That I can call a sunny day ‘glorious’ and know God made it reflecting Himself.
621) A clear head despite tiredness.
622) Morning tea with the kids in their tree hut.
623) Lunch in the sun on our back porch.
624) Children giggling.
625) Being reminded that God counts me as His despite my sin and weakness.
Other posts related to this topic:
- See my entire Gratitude list
Image of a new day: Eric Parker
Have you ever been homesick? Stuck some place but desperately yearning to be back home with the people who love you and places you love. Even if you like where you are now, there remains an intense knowledge you are not where you belong.
For a child, homesickness can destroy joy and is only abated when a parent comes to take the child home. As adults we learn to shove the feelings back down and get on with things but the longing for home remains, however we try to ignore it. This is a good thing – home is where we should want to be.
Still, it is odd as an adult to feel intense homesickness yet not be wanting to go home to Mum and Dad, or even home to my wife and kids – I am longing for my Father and His house (Matthew 23:9 and John 14:3). Not the gold streets or never being sick or the delights of heaven, rather to be with my Father and to dwell in His house. To be home.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
(Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV)
Almost everyone asks themselves at some point, “Is this it? Isn’t there more to life than this?” Such a question is an admission of homesickness, longing for our true home.
Don’t be afraid of longing for home. It is right and good to know we are only sojourners here ( Hebrews 11:13).
For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
(2 Corinthians 5:2-4 ESV)
These lines from a song sum up well how it can feel to be homesick for God:
Forever seems so distant
Much further than today
You turn around and in an instant
You find that you are just as far from yesterday
The day it feels like winter
The night it feels like stone
You turn around and you remember
When you’re surrounded
You can still feel so alone
(San Angelo by Third Day)
Gifts I have noticed this week (#539 – #548):
539) A good book finished.
540) Dreams surpassed.
541) A christian preschool for my son
542) Barracuda washed up on the beach.
543) Huge changes compared with one year ago.
544) Friends visiting our church.
545) Folks noticing if we are late.
546) Enduring the day at work with a headache.
547) Bus to bring me home at the end of the day.
548) My children fed well enough that they can be fussy and waste some of their lunch.
Other posts related to this topic:
- See my entire Gratitude list
- Only thanks
- Angels long to see what you have been given
- Connecting my delight in chocolate with God
Image of homesick boy: iStockphoto
