Hope Flag

Have you ever declared with absolute resolution, "I will not......"  (fill in the blank)

I can personally say that those words can be a dangerous or challenging statement.  Dangerous when we, ignorantly or willfully, are shaking our fist in the face of logic, or, at  times in the face of God, Who really does desire the best outcomes in our lives.  That is a battle of the will power and we have the classic and ultimate example of its detrimental outcome when we read Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28.  Or, it can be taken as a personal challenge.  

Now, personally, I recall making that declaration in High School during a drama class monologue.  Our teacher had invited noted community leaders to be in our audience.  My mind froze and I completely panicked.  I walked off the stage declaring that I would never speak in front of people again!  Fast forward...now I have several mental images of myself addressing hundreds of people doing one thing that I love to do - encourage others in the scriptures. (God has a way of turning things around for our best.)

Earlier this year I also heard myself saying, "I will not..."  That declaration was made to my doctor when he knew the best route for my physical benefit and strength was immediate surgery. "But God!  I have waited for You to heal me!"  "My hope has been in You, Lord!"

I thought back to years ago when I found the first tumor.  I had fought the fear of the unknown for months before seeking advice.  After I was told that the best route would be surgery, I promptly declared as I left that doctor's office, "I will not have surgery!"  Fear crept in.  I fought against the imaginations for several years. I memorized, ruminated, meditated, studied, quoted, shouted 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Isaiah 54:17, Psalm 91, Isaiah 53:5, Luke 10:19, Psalm 103, John 14:27, and many, many more.  I love the life of the Word of God.  That Life replaces negativity and refills our souls with so much hope!  But ---- I did not receive a physical healing.  What was God doing?  

So many wonderful friends and ministers prayed heart-felt and fervent prayers for healing to manifest as I continued to declare, "I will not..."

I held on to hope.  

My awesome family and friends stood with me throughout the ordeal.  I felt like I was climbing a mountain without the right gear (like I would really know what that is - my mountain climber son and daughter-in-law will laugh if they read this) The mountain was crumbling down on top of me as I held my little "Hope Flag."

Psalm 31:24  "Put away fear and let your heart be strong, all you whose hope is in the Lord." (Bible in Basic English)


Matt Redman's song, "Never Once," says:

     Standing on this mountain top
     Looking just how far we've come
     Knowing that for every step
     You were with us

     ...scars and stuggles on the way...

Romans 8:28 drips with redemption as we watch the Almighty turn things around for His name's sake and for our overall good. "But we do know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him-those who have received the Call in accordance with his purpose."  (Twentieth Century New Testament)

Five months after having submitted my, "I will not..." to God and holding my little "Hope Flag" up high as I continue to climb the mountains in front of me, I feel Him strengthen my heart. You may have an ominous mountain in front of you.  God will lead you over it or through it (that's what my friend, Diana prayed for me!) - but either way you will overcome it!  Say "yes" to the climb, grab Abba Father's hand, and determine that you will strike your "Hope Flag" into the ground on top of that mountain!  

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."  (KJV)








 
 

Bubbles of Hope

Bubbles by John Everett Millais

My husband and I bought this print in Williamsburg, VA years ago.  I fell in love with it.  Can't you feel the hope in this little guy's heart...hoping that beautifully iridescent thing that he had just created will float on the air forever for him to cherish?  

Then in an instant it bursts and the beauty and wonder are gone. 

This little guy also reminds me of another little guy that I haven't met in person, but was anticipating our meeting about the time I found the painting.  I know the two look alike - the bubble craftsman and my sister's miscarried little wide-eyed blond boy.  My mother-in-law, who "graduated to Beulah Land" last year loved to hear my own little blond guy giggle and chase the bubbles she created for him.  I'm really looking forward to blowing bubbles together, all of us, in Heaven.  Surely the silver,  rainbow-catching bubbles won't burst into nothingness in Heaven's breezes.

 It really hurts to watch our dreams break apart and float away.  It is so disillusioning  when our beautiful, hope filled bubbles burst.  Then all the questions flood in and we wonder if we should keep trying.  Old self-doubts stab at our hearts:  Do we really have what it takes?  

Bethel Music's Amanda Cook has crafted hopeful lyrics in her song, "Wonder"

     "...wide eyed and mystified, may we be just like a child, staring at the beauty of our King

     ...You are beautiful in all Your ways..."

I've been singing this song for two weeks now.  Finally, I have to ask myself, do I really believe that God is beautiful in all His ways - in the pain of watching family members wretch under cancer's claw - in the insecurity  of "more month than money" - in the battle to believe that "there's some good left in this world and it's worth fighting for" (credit Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings, but that's another blog for another day!)

Can I see the Lord of all beauty and hope in all the pathways he leads me on?  The bottom line is that I must.  I must, and I really would like to see you do that as well. 

1 Peter 3:15 "...and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you..."  (KJV)

The reason for this hope and the secret of its buoyant life inside the believer's heart is that we can trust that there is an open door into our eternal home with the presence of our King accessible at any time!  Look to Jesus, Who has anchored our hearts to look forward to the resurrected life and sent the Holy Spirit to seal that hope in our hearts everyday.  The Spirit of God Himself leads us personally into constant reflection that we have distinct stories that testify of how God has led us through battles and made our songs sweeter through the struggles.  Therefore, who can argue with you about the hope in your heart that is actually founded upon the evidence that God's strong hand has led you through your storms?

Be ready when they ask, "How did you come upon this hope?"  "What does it consist of?"  "What is the key to me getting the same hope in my life?"

Be encouraged to stay "wide eyed and mystified" and full of hope as you expect the God of the unexpected to be His beautiful self in all the paths He leads you down.

Harps of Hope

Walking out the doors of church to the car yesterday, I heard someone singing and looked to see, Josh, the pastor's youngest son tossing things into his seat as he was getting into his car to leave.  Our church shares a common parking lot with local businesses that are open seven days a week so I'm not the only one who heard Josh, the songbird...and he seemed totally oblivious to any of us.  He's one of those Tigger personality types with a huge, bright smile and he bounces around with so much life and energy, the epitome of the joy of the Lord.  

"Why am I not singing?" I thought. I was definitely happy and blessed, two amazing women had prayed for me and the Pastor's teaching was one of the most memorable analogies I'd every heard: Lessons from the Vineyard.  Did I check my harp at the door before leaving and suddenly stop the wells of gratitude from gushing out like Josh's?

I want to carry the continual fragrance of that awesome fellowship time on into my week;  I know I'm going to need it and I know people around me would be encouraged; what better way to stir up that fragrance than by singing some of the worship songs? (At least humming them.)  

But it can be like digging for a well in the drought-parched desert land sometimes, can't it?  Once we're out in the business of the week and chasing ourselves in our schedules, who can remember what we even sang during a worship service (unless you can YouTube or Vimeo it up).  Do you feel like you can sing out loud despite the world spinning around you in all of it's craziness?

I imagine that's what the captives felt when Psalm 137 was written:

     1  Alongside Babylon's rivers we sat on the banks; we cried and cried, remembering the good old days in Zion. 2  Alongside the quaking aspens we stacked our unplayed harps; 3  That's where our captors demanded songs, sarcastic and mocking: "Sing us a happy Zion song!" 4  Oh, how could we ever sing God's song in this wasteland?  (Message)

Can you identify with that sentiment?  I can. 

Then, we have to remember what we talked about last week...how Jeremiah made himself "recall things in his mind" and stir up the residual hope that God could and would continue to "show up and show out" in his life.

It is in days like these present times that each of us have to purpose to ponder again personal victories and intentionally revisit days of past experiences with Jesus Christ - our Victory in tribulations. 

Paul and Silas stirred their hearts with hope by singing...Hannah sang out in her joy over her son, Samuel...Debra's song of victory over the fierce enemy rang out...

Jason Upton asks, in his song, "A Hammer And An Awkward Nail," did you ever get tired and want to change the rules, Jesus?  Now, if anyone felt the pressure that tries to squeeze all joy and hope out of him, it was Jesus.  But what did He do just before He was called to pour out all of His life and see His soul and body broken for all of our redemption?

He sang a song with those most precious to Him. (Matthew 26:30)  He helped them "pick up their harps" and reinforce their souls in the ways that God was unleashing the Kingdom of Heaven's power for all of mankind through His Son on that Passover.
 
 Thank You, Jesus for singing over us.  Zephaniah 3:17 "17 The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing"  (KJV)

Will you pass me my harp, please?





 

Backing Into Hope

To be able to read is such a gift!  Normally, as children, we are taught to recognize little symbols on a page (or monitor or screen or ...) and associate meanings with them.  We learn to recall what we've learned by practice, repetition, and attaching mental pictures to the symbols.
 To me, language is so full of layers of meaning, depth, and seems so colorful, especially the Hebrew and Greek of the Bible.  God is really good at painting word pictures for us so His concepts are clarified to our hearts and minds and we are able to really "see" what He is saying.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." RSV

We see in this scripture the Hebrew word-picture of God's expected end for each of us.  Picture with me this:

     A man is rowing a boat with his back towards the bow.  He is rowing forward but he is 
     sitting in the boat backward, unable to see what is ahead.  He is literally BACKING INTO 
     HIS FUTURE!

God has already gone before him/us (somewhere in God's eternity past time frame) and laid out our future.  As a loving Father, he helps us along by giving us glimpses of it; think about your hopes, aspirations, day dreams and visions.  Think about sitting early in the morning with a cup of coffee or tea and meditating on a scripture or a thought that has been tumbling around in your heart.  When you get one of those glimpses catch a hold of it and see if it is something you can build upon to move toward your future.

As we are backing our boat into our future we have to, at the same time, have it moored for safety.  We have the security of anchoring our hearts to Jesus' steadfast heart along the journey through this present age's treacherous waters.  There is so much unleashed on us that it is not hard to imagine what the Lord was referring to when He stated that in the last days men's hearts could fail them in fear.  Luke 21:26 "Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken." KJV

In the hymn, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing," Robert Robinson penned the words for us:  "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love..."

 The prophet Jeremiah felt like his heart was failing him, like he was drifting out of the careful security of the watchful Father's eye; he felt like he had a target painted on his back!  Have you ever felt like you were a walking target in someone's game of yard darts? (I know, it's an outlawed game.)  He felt like he was rowing backward, alright, but all he could focus on was what lay behind him:  a trail of tattered emotions, threats from the community and the administration, torn relationships, scars and broken dreams were scattered across the path he had been walking.  Can you relate?

     Lamentations 3:12-13, 18  "He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.  
     He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. (Pierced my loins.)  
     And I said, "My strength and my hope Have perished from the LORD."

But let's look at what happens in good ole verse 21: "This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope."  He remembered in humble thanksgiving what God had spared him from and the daily mercies and benefits of living life "under the shadow of the Almighty." (Psalm 91:1 KJV)  Jeremiah made his mind call upon all the word pictures that God had helped him store in his heart;  we see the cloud begin to dissipate and hope arise!