Last week I outlined this post for you with excitement at the promises of God I planned to share. This week I’m burdened, and I remember how deeply I need those promises, too.
Hope.
What do you think of when you read that word?
What are you hoping for right now?
What do you still long for but have all but given up hoping for?
My version of hope is usually wound up in expecting something to happen or change. And I tend to hope for that outcome immediately. I don’t think, “Oh, I hope that after taking some wayward trails and wild roads my kids will choose to follow Jesus in twenty or so years.” No! I hope, “I want my kids to love Jesus passionately today and every day for the rest of their lives!”
But what if the path that will teach them to cling to Jesus with a white-hot faith is one that includes trials and choices I’d rather they not face? What of my hope then?
SAVE US NOW, LORD!
It seems I’m not alone in this kind of hope. It’s been the bait of the children of God for millennia, this expectation of immediate deliverance …
When the Israelites left Egypt, they weren’t hoping for a life-long camping trip. They hoped for a clear and direct route to the Promised Land.
When the crowds lined the road to Jerusalem, waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna!” as Jesus rode through, they weren’t hoping for Roman oppression to turn into outright persecution. They hoped for a king to deliver them from present, physical bondage.
When I cried out in prayer one year ago for COVID-19 to vanish from the face of the earth, I wasn’t hoping for months of shut-downs, prolonged separation of families across international borders, and the intense kind of refining that comes through having the world turned upside down. I hoped for immediate relief.
Recently, a friend quipped, “God is the least efficient father, ever.” I cringed. I value efficiency. Can I accept that God’s timeline and the paths He uses to draw me to His heart are more like the curving back roads and less like the freeway?
HOPE THAT WON’T DISAPPOINT
Paul knew more situational and physical difficulties than most of us will ever encounter (read 2 Corinthians 11:24-29 if you’d like a refresher), yet he could easily be dubbed the Preacher of Hope:
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we celebrate in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Romans 5:1-5 (NASB, emphasis mine)
It would seem that hope in an outcome – health, relationships, finances, success – will almost always lead to disappointment. Yet we’re told here by Paul that hope doesn’t disappoint us. Since, however, my usual hopes are dashed constantly, I can only conclude that those hopes are misplaced. They’re latched onto feeble, fading, temporal results.
I was never made to hope for the comfort and glory of this broken world.
What kind of hope is this, then, that never gives up, puts us to shame, or ebbs away unrealized?
This is the kind of hope given by the Spirit that latches on to God alone as it is borne out of suffering. The NASB translation above calls us to “celebrate in our tribulations.” The NIV translation says to “glory in our sufferings.” And I’m struck with the paradox of how often my own hopeful prayers are asking for my suffering to go away.
Jesus, too, had hopes. He set His sights on the joy that awaited Him … after His suffering. He knew the final outcome and He held on to God in hope. He hoped for His promised resurrection and the future resurrection of the bride of Christ. That alone is our sure and steadfast hope, as well.
We are made to hope for the unfading beauty of eternity with our savior.
RESURRECTION PROMISES FOR YOU
Here is what the resurrection of Christ means for us, the ones weary of hoping for an improvement in a painful situation:
When the cancer returns with a vengeance, Jesus has already purchased a new body for you. 2 Corinthians 4:13-18
When you keep battling the same sin and it feels like victory will never come, Jesus offers you complete forgiveness and a clean conscience. 1 Peter 3:21-22
When your business fails and finances are impossibly tight, Jesus shares with you the full inheritance of his riches. 1 Peter 1:3-4
When you question your ministry and calling because the fruit just isn’t there, Jesus’ grace anoints you to call others to faith, regardless of the outcome. Romans 1:3-5
When you’ve cried out for relief from the chronic illness, Jesus promises to plant this perishable seed of a mortal body and raise it into a glorious spiritual body. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44
When your marriage is floundering and nothing ever seems to help, Jesus wraps you in a community of love dedicated to his glory. Matthew 22:30 and Revelation 19:1-9
Every one of the scriptures linked above is an unbreakable promise of God because of the resurrection of Christ. They are true and sure and absolutely worthy of your trust. But most of them have nothing to do with your painful, frustrating circumstance right now and everything to do with your eternal life, secured through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Of course, your Father cares about your pain, your sorrow, and your anger. Right here, right now, He cares and He is with you in it. We don’t diminish our present reality or the painfully beautiful journey of following Christ by looking ahead to eternity; rather we discover where to anchor our hope–the resurrection of Jesus.
“If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”
1 Corinthians 15:19
So, this Easter, let’s look up. Look up to Golgotha and the blood-stained cross where your savior willingly suffered for you. Look up to the clouds where your king ascended and is seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for you and eagerly awaiting the moment He will return and take you to be with Him.
Look up, dear one, and cast your hope into eternity.
RESURRECTING HOPE
I invite you to take a moment in the story of Lazarus’ resurrection with me.
- Read John 11:1-45
- Think of your own hopeless situation. Use Martha’s words and insert your own:
“Lord, if you had been here, ____________ would not have happened …”
- Acknowledge your dashed hopes in Jesus’ presence. Look into his eyes and see his own tears as he feels your pain.
- Listen to Jesus’ response:
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”- What stirs within you at his words?
- How do you respond to his question of belief?
- What else does Jesus say to you personally?
1 Comment
I love how Corella captures emotions within each paragraph. I read a number of blogs, but Cora’s is one that I feel as well! Love her stuff. If you haven’t read her book yet, get it! You are missing out on some tender, tasty morsels of truth.