Where Does Your Hope Come From?

On April 28-30, the NFL held its annual draft of college football players, and each team chose about 7 players each - fresh, young players.  Almost immediately afterwards, each team sign about 20 more undrafted players.  So every NFL team has restocked its roster with dozens of new, young players.  Thus every team believes they’re going to be better than last year.  Yes, this is the season when hope is renewed for every NFL team. 

Hope is an abstract thing that affects almost every aspect of one’s life.  It affects how one thinks or feels, how one sees oneself.  It affects how one relates to others.  You can just sense, when listening to another person, whether that person is hopeful or not.  One’s level of hope affects how much one accomplishes. 

In Isaiah’s time, the chosen people of Israel were feeling like they were no longer chosen, as if God had lost track of them; a few even dared to say that God no longer cared about them.  As Isaiah 40:27 says, “Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel,
My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”?

God Himself says it best in the 4 verses that follow, Do you not know?  Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
   He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
   Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
   but those who hope in the Lord, will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;

 they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Did you catch that line in bold?  Did you notice where Isaiah’s hope came from?  Isaiah’s hope didn’t come from believing in himself, or following a self-help book, or from his wonderful friends.  No, his hope, the hope that renewed his strength, came from the LORD – the everlasting Creator of the world, the God who doesn’t get tired or weary, and his wisdom cannot be understood by any mere mortal.  Are you actively trusting in that God?

A few verses later, Isaiah wrote, So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (41:10)

If you aren’t listening to the God of Isaiah, why not start seeking Him today?  If you’re troubled or afraid, turn to the eternal Creator of the world.  If you’re weak or weary or discouraged, why not put your hope in the Lord who promises to renew your strength?  He will uphold you with his holy, right hand, and help you.

Why Do We Suffer?

This winter has been for some, a struggle to survive.  During Lent, we Christ-followers turn toward Jerusalem & the Cross, as we remember Jesus' sacrificial suffering, for us.  Remembering the Savior's sufferings, can be a time to reflect on our own suffering.  Why do we suffer?

Billy Graham deals with why God's children suffer in his book, Hope for the Troubled Heart.  One reason we all suffer is because we sin or disobey God.  Graham writes:  "If a Christian loses his temper, tells a lie, or commits a sin of any kind, he will suffer God's judgment... just as a child needs correcting, so God's children need correcting."

Sometimes, like a loving Parent, God needs to discipline us, his children.  Graham tells about his father punishing him as a child, but he knew that his father loved him.  Jesus says, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline."  (Revelation 3:19)  A wise person considers whether his problem is deserved as God's discipline. 

Graham asks: "Can we profit from pain?"
        Remember Job?  If ever a man had trials, it was this fellow.  But this is what he         
        concluded: When God has tested me, I will come forth as gold  (Job 23:10)  This is    
        reacting positively to testing, building on it, rather than criticizing it for interfering   
        with life's normal patterns.
  
       Trials often come {because God} seeks to make us into the sort of person He   
       planned  for us to be when He first thought of us.  Like a sculptor,  He begins with a   
       lump of marble.  But He has in mind a picture of what He intends to create.  He 
       breaks, cracks, chisels, and polishes until one day there emerges His vision, like   
       Michelangelo's David.  At the moment, His sculpture of us is incomplete.  God has   
       not yet finished with us.  (page 91)

Sometimes we bring a problem on ourselves.  Ever know a man who has an affair, and then his marriage fell apart?  She smoked for years, and now she has breathing problems.  A parent allowed a child to what whatever he pleased for years, and now wonders why he cannot be managed. 

Suffering deepens our relationship with God.  Graham writes, "Nothing will drive us to our knees quicker than than trouble... God hears our prayers, but our prayers must be in accordance with His will." (page 92)  Our problems can cause us to ask if we're praying for the right things.  Our struggles force us to look deeper.

Take another look at these causes of suffering, and ask yourself: Why am I suffering?  Accept responsibility for what you've said or done.  Seek to learn from your suffering.  In this season of journeying toward Jesus' sufferings and death, let us remember His prayer on the night before He was crucified, "Not my will, but your will be done."  Our problems keep us humble and cause us to pray.  Struggles can lead us to us to a deeper relationship with the Savior.  Let God's Spirit lead you.

Why Did God Allow the Ice Storm?

For many of us here in SE Oklahoma, we’ve spent much time digging out, surviving without electricity, and cleaning up after the ice storm on Dec. 5-6, the worst to hit this area in many years.  What does this mean, in terms of Christ’s coming to earth at Christmas?  Was this ice-meggedon a random freak of nature?  Is it possible that God was trying to get our attention in or after the ice storm?

God allows the earth to reflect sin’s consequences on creation, in much the same way that God allows evil people to commit evil acts. According to Romans 8: 19-20, the fall of humankind into sin affected everything, including the world we inhabit.  The creation is subject to “frustration” and “decay.”  Ultimately sin causes natural disasters just as it causes death, disease, and suffering.

We can understand why natural disasters occur in terms of weather-related factors, but we do not understand is why God ALLOWS them to occur. Why did God allow those we love, struggle after this ice storm. For one thing, such events shake our confidence in this life and force us to think about eternity. Churches attendance usually increases after disasters as people realize how tenuous their lives really are. What we do know is this: God is good!  Rev. Gary Sweatman of Sanger, TX, rallied his church to help motorists stranded on I-35 by the ice storm.  Natural disasters can cause people to reevaluate their priorities in life.  It can also be an opportunity for us to help our neighbors.  God can bring good out of disasters. 

In Haggai 1: 9-11, God Himself caused a terrible disaster because God wanted to get his people’s attention about the way they forgot Him and his business and focused exclusively on their own.  Is it possible that God caused this recent ice storm to get our attention?

Some say God is too loving, too kind, too compassionate, too gentle to ever cause a disaster.  This reminds me of an old story about a farmer who was out in his field working a stubborn mule.  The mule sat down in the mud and refused to budge.  The farmer pushed and pulled, threatened and coaxed, but couldn't move the mule.  A neighbor who was watching nearby came over to offer advice. "I've been watching you for a while," said the neighbor.  "And I think you may be going about this the wrong way."  In frustration the farmer quipped, "Well then, how would you get this stupid mule out of the mud?"  "Well," said the neighbor, "you need to use kindness, you need to be loving, gentle and show compassion to the dumb animal.  Let me show you how it's done."  So the farmer moved aside and the neighbor took a baseball bat and hit the mule square in the head. "What are you doing?" shouted the farmer. “You said to be kind, to be loving, to be gentle, to show compassion” . "I’m going to," said the neighbor. "But first I’ve got to get his attention."  Maybe God was trying to get our attention with this ice storm.

God wants to bless us with an abundant life.  But if we insist on ignoring God, rejecting HIS ways, and living OUR ways, then we separate ourselves from the very Source of all blessings.
 God loves us too much to leave us that way without using whatever means necessary to shift our attention from ourselves to Him.

I hope and pray that this ice storm in Advent will make us refocus our attention on God and how He wants us to live.  Let’s submit ourselves to God, confess our selfish sins, and pay attention to what God is doing in our lives.  God's going to do something grand on Christmas!

Learn From Asaph's Struggles

Asaph wrote Psalms 50 and 73-83, a total of 12.  Psalm 73 is about Asaph’s struggles with aspects of life that seemed UNFAIR.   Wicked people were making money off the poor, and seemed blessed in spite of their sins, while good, faithful folks struggled and suffered.  And Asaph was one of the good, faithful ones.  In fact, he was Israel’s Music and Worship Leader. 

Have you ever struggled while trying to serve the Master faithfully, and while evil people seemed blessed?  That’s what Asaph experienced before writing Psalm 73.   So how did Asaph get beyond his problems?   He “entered the sanctuary of God”(v. 17).  Sanctuary here refers to abiding or living in God’s presence.   Do you have a place where you go for prayer, to meet God in prayer?  If not, you need to go to God directly; most people find a quiet, private place to be the best place to experience God’s presence. 

After Asaph had felt God’s presence, he saw that evil people were headed to destruction and judgment, which made his envy evaporate.  He also saw his own limits and sin in v. 22, “I was senseless and ignorant.” 

Asaph also found a high vision of God that filled him with gratitude and confidence in God.  He ended Psalm 73 with these words:  “you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory… My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart
… But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge.” 

Steps for those who struggle include:  1.  Go to God; seek his presence through prayer.  2. Confess your sins and shortcomings to God.  3. Give thanks for God’s blessings, and worship the God of heaven and earth.  Focusing on these steps will gradually change your perspective on your problems.  May the Spirit give you strength and endurance!