"And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us." Romans 5:3-11
Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character and character produces Hope....wow, what a rich verse! Hope is as essential to the Christian life as Faith and Love but many time gets less focus. The Bible says in 1Peter 3:15 "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear". The dictionary meaning of Hope is "the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best".
As Christians we are very familiar with the book of Job. He was a man of God that lost everything...his possessions, his family, and even his own health. You may also remember that Satan had to ask God what He could do to Job and God told Him he could do anything but take his life. Everything that touched him had to go through the hand of God and through it all Job kept the Faith. This is amazing story of faith and perseverance through adversity. It showcases the intensity of the relationship that Job had with God. It is one of those stories that preachers like to preach and we like to hear to increase our faith all the while with the unspoken thought...Lord, don't ever ask me to be Job! As amazing of a man of God as he may have been none of us would ever want to walk Job's journey.
I have known a lot of people in my life. Being in ministry and traveling to various areas of the country I have come in contact with many life stories. As I survey the lives I have come to know there are a handful of people that stick out ....people who for one reason or another seem to have been hit with more than their share of tragedy and hardship. Multiple events that are mind boggling to the onlooker and it is hard to not ask the question.....why do some people just have more adversity to deal with than others? We have all asked ourselves why do bad things happen to good people?
I am not a real big fan of the cliche'...."everything happens for a reason". I know many Christians hold fast to this and leave nothing to chance. I, however, do believe that sometimes things just happen. Cause and effect. Sometimes we are "in the right place at the right time" and sometimes we were "just in the wrong place at the wrong time". So, who really is in control? What determines that and how do we know which is which?? Why are so many unwanted babies aborted and some Christian couples pray their whole lives to have a baby and can not conceive? Why would God take a mother from her children? Why would a child die from cancer? So many questions....I certainly could not begin to answer all of these questions on my little blog and from the limitations of my human mind.
I can only answer that God is sovereign. He asks some people to walk hard roads. Some people end up with stories of mountaintops and some live much of their life in the valleys. It is not a popular Sunday school lesson....but sometimes he requires more out of some people than others. I have a very close friend and I have walked with her through the death of a very close loved one. I was a bystander to the ever evolving stages of her grief and I have learned so much about Hope from death. Literal or otherwise. I remember buying her a string of pearls and God talking to me about how he was going to turn her into a Pearl. Pearls, as many of you know, are only formed after years and years of irritation and distress... only then does something so beautiful emerge. This is my friend. This can be seen again and again in the lives of people I have known who have walked the harder roads. Their trust is deeper and their focus is stronger. They have run out of options and they do not operate in the same time framework we do. Many of them know all to well how fragile life is.
A few years back as I was having two tumors removed from my body my perspective on family and mortality was forever changed. After these sort of life changing events happen you can never go back to things as the way they were. I know this statement may be unpleasant but adversity and pain can be a gift. A gift! Through suffering God builds character. He strips away the meaningless and develops depth and value inside a life. Our relationship with him is deeper. In a past blog I talked about how I have learned in the last few years that there can be no healing without brokenness. No forgiveness without betrayal. No joy without sorrow. No Hope without first knowing Hopelessness. We can know definitions and concepts but to have this stuff grab at the fabric of who we are we have to walk the Journey. I have been following the blog of a local woman who lost her baby six months ago and on her page it says...Hope does not disappoint. I remember thinking if she can proclaim that anyone can. After all He is our Hope...He is the Truth.
Hope will never leave us hanging out to dry. Hope is always worth it! Hope may not always assure us the outcome we want. So, through the road of suffering we have to remember the inner work that He is doing. Inside of us, whether we can feel it or not Hope is birthed in the middle of our suffering if we trust and believe. The Hope that He will never leave us. The Hope that we have through trusting Him and knowing that this earthly life is only an eye-blink in time compared to eternity with Him. Hope in knowing that someday our story can be there to help someone else....lives can be changed forever. When we stop Hoping we die. Hope keeps us getting up every morning and believing in our Christian faith. Hope helps us pick up broken pieces and began again. Hope helps us dream again after failure. Hope sees beyond earthly eyes. Hope is the only option to living a happy, peace filled life!
So, although none of us want to be Job and I'm sure if we could interview him now he would tell us those were not the best years of his life. The steps of a righteous man are ordered by God and He has promised to walk through everything with us. There is a strength He gives us that we will only realize when we are forced to see it. He is our Hope and Hope does not disappoint! <3
" Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise." Hebrews 10:23
