When Hope Seems Far Away

Hope is one thing we cannot live without, but often hope seems fleeting, or we have placed it in the wrong places/people. I am 100% sure that everyone reading this right now either has great need of hope, has needed it or will need it in the future.

I'm writing this on the Saturday of Easter weekend and on this day in history the followers of Jesus struggled the most. The 11 remaining Disciples had invested the last 3 years of their lives with Jesus and what they hoped for was a new era for Jews everywhere and that there place in it would be huge! Now it was replaced with a deep sense of hopelessness, a "what are we going to do now?" period.

Are you there? Does it feel like the clock is at 11:59:59 in a specific area of your life - job/career, finance, marriage, relationships, health or something else?

"May the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick/ache, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." Proverbs 13:12

Reading the promise God has in Romans 15:13 is not false hope, God promises that you will be overflowing with joy, peace and hope AS YOU TRUST IN HIM. The Holy Spirit will make you overflow with those three things, your part is to trust in Him. The more you let go and trust in Him, the more you will experience Joy, Peace and Hope. I am not sure what the followers of Jesus felt like on that Saturday, but no one seemed ready to take on the world, or was anticipating the resurrection of Jesus even though He promised it. Instead they were hiding out in a room hoping not to be arrested and trying to figure out next steps. JESUS CAME THROUGH THEN AND HE WILL NOW. He is trustworthy! Put your hope and trust in Him fully and watch what happens next!

It is Well with My Soul - or Not!

I grew up in the Midwest in the 60-70's and my family attended a Main line Denominational church where we sang hymns Sunday after Sunday. Most of them I didn't understand or even question, I just sang along like everyone else. I became a born again believer right before graduating from High School and headed off to one of the Best Christian Universities in the United States,(www.taylor.edu) and we had Chapel Monday, Wednesday and Friday's at 10:05 in the morning. This was long before the Modern Praise music era we have now, and so we sang more hymns, accompanied by either the piano, the huge Pipe Organ or both. Sometimes for a special treat, the brass ensemble would join in giving the hymn a sort of regality about it. One of the many hymns I remember singing was "It is Well with My Soul". As I said I was a new believer, and I hadn't yet learned to stuff down or hide my duplicity when I came across a hymn that wasn't true of my life, (that would come later). I remember a specific chapel one morning and singing the chorus "It is well, it is well with my soul" when I stopped singing, I stopped because it wasn't true. I couldn't sing the words because my soul was in anguish over many things, instead I pushed the huge lump in my throat down as far as it would go, fought tears but finally gave in. I didn't wail but my face had a slow stream of water streaming a straight line under both eyes, down each cheek and dripping off of my jaw. I hoped no one saw me, I was a college wrestler after all, and a guy. Never mind that last sentence. I knew I had to do something about this and not singing this hymn in the future was not the answer. I needed wellness of soul. I wasn't sure how to get it, was there an Rx for that? Yep, come to find out there is. 1. Be open, honest, transparent and admit it to yourself, God and a trusted friend. Psalm 32, 51 and James 5:16. 2. Figure out how you got there in the first place. 3. Remove the source of angst, lack of peace - Get right/nearer with God! 4. Do your best not to repeat it again, and choose to live under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit and by living out the Bible. Now on Sunday mornings at church and whenever I listen to praise/worship music I occasionally come to songs I know are not completely true of my heart/soul/life. Rather than continue singing them, it's best for me to address the issue. I don't want to live with a lack of peace when I do not have to. Proverbs 4:23 says to

" guard your heart/soul above everything for it is the well-spring of life."

The important thing for me was and is to be honest and get to the heart of the matter and never give the enemies a foothold by waiting until later. It is also important to be well in my soul because I need peace and it's available. Living with peace also allows me to show those I come in contact with what it looks like to be at peace for others lacking peace. And today there is a lot of robbing, killing and destroying of the peace God desires for us. (see John 10:10).