Hope

Sorrow Transformed To Joy

February 26, 2020

The longer I journey through life, the more aware I become that nearly everyone has endured sorrow, pain, or loss—in ways frequently hidden from the rest of the world. But those things aren’t the end of our story. Rather, we have a glorious hope found in the goodness of God.

One of the most magnificent assurances in Scripture is that God works all things for our good. As Christians, most of us have an intellectual understanding of this, but God wants it to be a living, breathing truth in our lives. It’s a bedrock promise reflecting His nature—that HE is always good and always kind. It’s an assurance we can rest in during the hardest of times. He redeems all things, and He gives joy in the place of mourning.

So what is our role in this process? One key element is the choice to trust in Him and hold fast to the truth His word reveals.

Psalm 84:5-7 says:

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca [valley of weeping or lamentation], they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools [blessings]. They go from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion.

We make the choice to set our hearts and minds on God, on the unseen and eternal (Colossians 3:2) and to remember we’re on a pilgrimage in this world. There’s a promise that as we do so, God Himself will supply strength and He will transform the very places of sorrow and suffering into springs which give life and pools of blessing for us and those around us.

Shortly before I was healed, The Lord reminded me of a passage from Hinds Feet on High Places (an allegory I read many times through my childhood and teen years). In the book, the protagonist Much-Afraid accepts the invitation of the Shepherd to journey up to the High Places. He promises to give her companions to accompany her, and she’s delighted—until her companions turn out to be Sorrow and Suffering. But when she finally reaches the High Places, not only is she herself transformed from Much-Afraid into Grace and Glory, but Sorrow and Suffering are transformed into Joy and Peace.

Obviously, this is a concept found throughout Scripture. But in this case, God reminded me of it afresh through story. He offered the reassurance that He was working this in my life, even when there was no evident manifestation at the time—and that I was to keep my focus and attention on Him, on His nature, and what He was speaking and doing.

While I saw a manifestation of this process a few months later (albeit after many years of waiting), the transformation of joy to sorrow doesn’t always happen quickly. It doesn’t always happen in a way we readily perceive or in the way we would choose. But it always happens. On that, Scripture is clear.

Further, it’s in the place of trial and difficulty that God opens doors of hope and restoration, as illustrated in Hosea 2:14-15:

Therefore, I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor [trouble] a door of hope.

These Scriptures provide fuel for great hope, and there are so many more. Isaiah 61:3, Psalms 126, Psalms 30:5, Matthew 5:4, and countless others address this topic.

If you’re in a difficult season, reflect on these Scriptures. Ask the Holy Spirit to breathe life on them, to make them living reality in your soul. He will be faithful to strengthen you and impart joy, even in the midst of trouble.

I’d love to hear your stories of how God redeemed difficult situations and brought joy in the place of sorrow. If you’ve experienced this, please share!

Abraham and Sarah: Lives Marked by Hope

January 28, 2020

In seasons of intense pressure or loss, living in hope may feel like an impossible ideal. For this reason, I love the story Abraham and what it reveals about our journey of hope and faith. Most likely, you have at least passing familiarity with Abraham’s life—both his title as father of the faith and the numerous times that he stumbled. His wife Sarah also is honored as a mother of faith, a woman enabled to experience the impossible because she considered God faithful.

Throughout Abraham and Sarah’s lives, God brought them into situations that stretched their faith and required the continued exercise of hope and trust in God. When Abraham was seventy-five, God gave him an incredible promise—that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. This promise required supernatural fulfillment, as Sarah had long ago passed the years of child-bearing and endured barrenness throughout their many years of marriage.

Little did Abraham know at the time that it would take twenty-five years before the arrival of his promised son, the first sign that a nation would indeed follow Abraham. Genesis gives the expanded version of their experience during this time of waiting, but Romans sums it up this way:

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver in belief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”
Romans 4:18-21

So what can we learn from their journey of persevering in hope?

There’s so much here, but four points particularly stand out to me:

Understanding the power of God strengthened Abraham in his faith and enabled him to hope against hope. Abraham experienced God working on his behalf many times through the years. He’d witnessed God’s supernatural activity throughout his life, and he knew God had the power to do what he had promised, no matter how impossible it appeared.
Glorifying and praising God increased their ability to hope—and it does the same for us. In the waiting, Abraham continued to look to God and give glory to him. When we fix our eyes on God instead of our circumstances and choose to thank Him for His goodness at all times, it transforms us from the inside.
Triumphant hope faces the facts, but then looks beyond them. Abraham’s faith and hope did not require a denial of reality, nor would such a denial have been healthy. Abraham acknowledged the natural circumstances (old age and barrenness) without weakening in faith. In some circles, the power of positive thinking and speech receives such an emphasis that people feel they cannot speak honestly about their circumstances. That isn’t walking in hope. Hope acknowledges the facts, and then looks beyond them to the truth of what Scripture reveals about God, His power, and His ability to fulfill His word.
Even when we stumble and doubt, God’s grace more than covers our weakness—we’re not disqualified from walking in faith. This is tremendously important to understand. While Scripture records Abraham as a father of faith, a man who left behind everything familiar to follow God into an unknown land, a man who enjoyed intimate friendship with God, he also sinned in several major ways—including sleeping with another woman in an attempt to force the fulfillment of God’s promise to Him and fathering a son with her whom he later rejected. Yet when you read God’s account of Abraham, he says Abraham did NOT waver in his belief, but rather walked in faith and hope. God views us through the lens of grace. So if you find yourself struggling to hope or battling unbelief, know that God keeps account very differently than we do. As we turn to Him and repent, his grace more than covers our weakness. Like the father of the suffering child in Scripture, we can pray “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” And we can pick right back up in our journey of hope.

What other truths have you gleaned from the lives of Abraham and Sarah? I’d love to hear.

8 Practical Ways to Cultivate Hope

January 21, 2020

What you plant and nurture grows. It holds true in the natural realm, so also the spiritual. If you want to increase in hope, take action and incorporate some of these practices in your life:

1. Fill your mind with Scripture.

Romans 15:4 says that through the encouragement of Scripture, we have hope. Reflecting on Scriptures about God’s kindness and faithfulness will cause hope to increase, and so will meditating on Scriptural promises that specifically pertain to your situation. Look for what the Word says about the circumstance you find yourself in. Make these Scriptures personal and intimate, as God intended them, by adding your name and applying it to your life. Write down the living Word and put it on your mirror, your car dashboard, or any place you will see it often. As we saturate our minds with the Word, hope will increase in our souls.

2. Ask for empowerment from the Holy Spirit to walk in hope.

Pray as Paul did for “the God of hope [to] 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). Ask for the filling of the Spirit and supernatural grace to walk in hope. Sometimes all we can do cry out for help and trust that God will breathe on our emotions and bring hope. By His grace, He gives us hope (2 Thessalonians 2:16).

3. Choose hope.

We have a choice to hope or give up. Will you guard your heart because of past hurts or disappointments? Or will you embrace the truth revealed by God in His word and what that truth means for your life? 1 Peter 1:13 tells us to set our hope—it’s a an active determination on our parts. And Hebrews 10:23 echoes this, instructing us to “hold fast to the confession of hope without wavering.”

4. Speak hope-filled words.

Just as what we hear from others impacts us, what we speak to ourselves also influences the course of our souls (James 3 compares the tongue to a bit on a horse or a rudder on a ship, both of which determine the path taken). Just because you speak something doesn’t mean it automatically comes to pass, but bringing our words into alignment with heaven does steer the course of our souls.

5. Command your soul to hope.

One potent use of our words is to instruct our souls to hope in God. This may feel strange at first, but throughout Scripture we find people declaring to God “my hope is in you.” In Psalms 42 and 43, the psalmist speaks directly to his soul, saying: “why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” We have authority to direct our souls, and we don’t have to fall prey to every emotion, rather we can bring ourselves into alignment with hope.*

6. Keep your heart free from offense and bitterness.

We’re commanded to guard our heart, which is the wellspring of life. Keeping it free of bitterness, anger, and offense plays a key role in this. It’s easy to become offended with God when we don’t understand what’s going on (as if we had the right to do so), but offense chokes out hope and faith. Jesus said, “blessed is the one who is not offended because of me” (Matthew 11:6). The same applies in our relationships with others.

7. Engage with testimonies of God’s goodness.

Read, listen to, and reflect on testimonies of what God has done for others and remember and ponder what He has worked in your own life. We all have stories of His faithfulness, and we’re meant to meditate on them and share them. God instructed the Israelites to set up memorial stones that would serve as prompts to tell of what God did on their behalf (Joshua 4). And Revelation 12 declares that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. When we hear how God has worked in the lives of others and meditate on what He has done on our behalf, it builds hope.

8. Surround yourself with people who speak hope and life.

As you’ve likely experienced, people often cast doubt, speak negative words, and discourage hope, often without realizing it. Many people have surrendered to negative mindsets and speak fear and worry into the circumstances they see in their own lives and the lives of those around them. By no means do I suggest that you cut those people off (after all, many of them may be loved family members or long-standing friends), but simply be mindful of your dialogue with them and be sure to also seek out those who will bring words of hope and truth into your situation.

How do you cultivate hope in your own life? I’d love to hear from you.

*Sometimes underlying physical/chemical issues cause depression or other emotional difficulties that need addressing—and I recommend taking necessary action in those situations—but those cases aside, many times we simply need to take authority over our souls.

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of the Fundamentals of Hope series.

Finding Hope in Despair

January 14, 2020

My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.
Psalm 42:3,11

In Christ, we’re made to hope, and our hope in Him strengthens us in our journey of faith. But sometimes suffering—or even just exhaustion from the battles we face in life—causes hope to feel beyond reach.

We’ve all wrestled with this, whether during seasons of physical affiliation, financial crisis, or loss, death, and grief—the times when “tears are our food,” the times when perhaps no one else can perceive or understand the depth of our pain. Yet when we’re suffering or struggling, hope becomes most important.

The battle for hope

To start, it’s helpful to know we’re not alone in this battle— everyone deals with this struggle in their soul at times. My own greatest war for hope came during the many years I waited for the healing of my body and for all the dreams and desires impossible to fulfill during my illness. Others have dealt with far more horrific circumstances, but I can only share my own story.

During this prolonged season of sickness, I held the posture of asking every day that this would be the day for healing and every day choosing fresh hope. In the process, I found sometimes embracing hope could be painful itself, because it required engaging my vision and emotions in a future reality that contrasted vividly with my present difficult one. And the choice to hope forced me to wrestle through feelings of hope deferred or disappointment when the answer continued to delay.

In this season, I received comfort from the Psalms and what they revealed about the battle for hope and the raw, real emotions that occur during this journey. If you’re in this place, just read Psalm 42 and the expression of pain contained within coupled with the continued commandment David gives to his soul to hope in God. Or look at Psalm 25, where David finds himself in the midst of countless troubles—surrounded by enemies, alone and afflicted—but still declaring his hope and trust in God.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction” (Romans 12:12). It’s more than a platitude, it’s a path. Our patience and perseverance—and yes, even rejoicing—during seasons of affliction will fuel our hope and faith.

The choice to hope

And here I found one of the keys: regardless of what we feel, we always have a choice. We always have authority over our own souls and the ability to command them to hope—even when we feel at our weakest. And when we make this choice, we will receive strength from God to persevere in faith.

Sometimes when you’re faced with a situation that requires a concerted effort of hope over a long period of time—whether it’s contending for physical healing, for financial provision, for change in a troubled marriage or for whatever area you’ve had promises that remain unfulfilled—it can be tempting to give up hope rather than experience disappointment. Hope usually involves waiting—for who hopes for what he already has? Maybe you’ve chosen hope again and again, only to feel dashed to the ground every time, bewildered as to why answers delay and prayers seem to go unheard. Scripture addresses this feeling as “hope deferred” and says it makes the heart sick.

Or maybe you’re in a different situation. Maybe you’re not hoping and praying for a change in circumstance, but instead you need to see your pain through the lens of hope. Perhaps someone close and dearly loved has died. Perhaps you’ve endured traumas or abuse with lasting repercussions. Perhaps you’ve encountered irreversible disaster. Regardless, it’s essential to hope in God, to hold confidence in His ability to bring good even out of the worst suffering and loss.

In either case, if you find yourself heartsick and struggling to hope, what then? Though it may sound impossible, even at this point, you still have a choice. Go to God with all your emotions, pour our your heart like water to Him. Run to Him instead of away and receive His comfort and empowerment. Come back to the place of choosing hope, even if that choice looks like a weak whisper for help. Because the alternative will only crush your soul further, leading to discouragement, unbelief, and even despair—and ultimately agreement with the enemy rather than God. If we view our lives as hopeless, we’re defining them as “not susceptible to remedy or cure”—the very opposite of what Scripture declares.

The supernatural grace

The truth is that God always makes a way, and “his power is perfect in our weakness.” When every part of us feels weary or wounded, if we turn to him as the healer of our souls, if we choose hope, He will give us grace and sustain us even amid the pain of disappointment or hope deferred. He’s more than able to plant fresh hope, if we run to him in our pain instead of from him. I love that in Hosea 2:15 it says God makes the valley of trouble (Achor) a door of hope. It’s a vivid image of the transformational power God offers us as our worst, most bleak circumstances become a doorway of living hope. If we partner with Him, if we lean on Him when we have no strength, He WILL do this for us all.

Maybe this seems like a simplistic answer that doesn’t account for your unique circumstances, but the truth of Scripture applies in every situation. And I want to encourage you that to continue to hope—to continue agreeing with God—is always worth it. This choice doesn’t make difficulty magically vanish, but it brings us to a place of inner life and strength in the midst of hardship. And any time we align ourselves with God, it releases power in our souls and spirits, power that we need to sustain us on the journey. Next week, I’ll look at some of the practicals of how to cultivate this needed hope.

Are you struggling for hope right now? Or have you endured a battle in this area and come through with tips of your own to share?

Read part 1 and part 2 of the Fundamentals of Hope series.

5 Ways Hope Transforms Us

January 7, 2020

…we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
(Romans 8:23-25)

As mentioned last week, hope strengthens us in faith and acts as a transformative force in our lives. Indeed, it’s evidence of the Spirit’s activity in us, and throughout Scripture, we find exhortations to put our faith and hope in God.

So when we follow this command, what impact does hope have in our lives?

Hope positions us to participate in and receive the unfolding of God’s plan in our lives. Hebrews 6:11 encourages us to “show earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end…[imitating] those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Our choice to hope equips us to persevere and inherit the promises of God, rather than grow weary and surrender our inheritance. Romans 8:25 confirms this saying, “if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Hope helps us wait on God’s timing and partner with Him in prayer for His purposes to be released.
Hope brings stability to our souls. It anchors us, so that we’re not governed by shifting emotions or blown off course by the difficulties of life, but instead stable and grounded in truth. Challenges, changes, and trials have less impact when we rest secure in an attitude of hope, because hope reminds us that ultimately we know our destiny—and it’s a glorious one (Hebrews 6).
Hope releases heavenly resources into our lives. There’s a divine grace we access in hope that strengthens us. Psalms 31:24 says, “Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” I love this assurance! Further, hope draws the attention and supply of heaven, as revealed in Psalm 33:18, which says “the eyes of the Lord are on…those whose hope is in his unfailing love.” Other Scriptures speak of the Lord renewing our strength and releasing provision as we wait in hope for Him.
Hope empowers us to act in accordance with God’s ways. We see a variety of instances of this in Scripture. 2 Corinthians 3:12 says, “since we have such a [glorious] hope and confident expectation, we speak with great courage.” Paul proclaimed that our reason to labor and train ourselves in godliness springs from our hope in the living God (1 Timothy 4:7-10). And John stated that everyone with the hope of becoming like God when he appears, even now purifies himself. (1 John 3:3) In short, we will live very differently when we’re in hope—bringing ourselves more into alignment with God’s kingdom and his ways.
Hope strengthens our physical bodies. As our Creator, God knows the potent impact of hope in the human body, and He reveals it in Scripture. Hope in the human heart serves to increase our strength, and it brings fresh vitality our bodies. The demands of life take a toll, all the more so when dealing with grief, pain, or sickness, and we need this supernatural refreshing. Isaiah 40:31 sets forth the glorious promise that “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.” Conversely, “the spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but a broken spirit [crushed, devoid of hope], who can bear?” (Proverbs 18:14) In God’s design, hope strengthens us physically, and scientific research affirms this powerful impact of hope (I anticipate exploring that here in the future).

Ultimately, a hopeful, Spirit-filled soul equips us to face every circumstance. When we, like Sarah, “consider him faithful who makes the promise,” we begin to live our lives in accordance with hope and agreement with heaven.

What are ways you’ve experienced this in your own life?

Read part 1 of the Fundamentals of Hope series.

What is Hope? A Biblical View

December 30, 2019

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.
Hebrews 6:19-20

To me, hope is a beautiful word…and a costly one. It’s beautiful because Spirit-given hope strengthened me through a long season of illness and pain until I reached the place of healing and restoration. It’s beautiful because Jesus revealed Himself to me as the God of hope, and everything about His nature and character is beautiful. But it’s also costly, because sometimes the choice to hope brings its own sort of pain. It requires more than natural strength—it necessitates bringing emotions into alignment with truth and choosing to agree with the Father despite every circumstance to the contrary.

But it’s a choice that empowers us in our daily lives, and Scripture is filled with countless stories of individuals living in hope, persevering for many years in anticipation of God unfolding His plan in their lives.

Hope Heroes

On my own journey of walking in hope, I’ve found immense encouragement in these tales—in the story of Hannah, yearning for her children and finding hope in her darkest hour through God’s promise to her, and then experiencing longing fulfilled many times over. Or the account of Abraham, who hoped against hope regarding the promises of God for his future and for the nation that would spring forth from a barren marriage and an ancient womb. Or the record of Simeon and Anna, who served faithfully in the temple, waiting and anticipating the promised redemption—the coming of Christ—and the privilege they received of witnessing God-in-the-flesh with their own eyes.

But the tales go beyond those contained in Scripture. From ancient history to modern day, there are accounts of heroes, those sung and unsung, who faced dark, painful circumstances, and yet found strength to press on through their hope in Christ.

Hope Defined

So what is hope, that it empowers this way?

Biblical hope—true hope—is the joyful, confident expectation of future good which keeps us in agreement with the perspective of heaven. Further, this expectation remains strong regardless of the situations we face. Hope looks beyond circumstance to the ultimate truth that God reveals. It rests on the knowledge of God—His character, His nature, and the provision He has made for our redemption. At its core, hope is confidence in God. It’s the choice to agree with what He says regarding Himself, the world we live in, and our own futures.

Scripture reveals that hope is sure, because ultimately Jesus—the one who is Faithful and True—is our hope. We can be certain that our hope in Him will never disappoint (Isaiah 49:23), and our confidence in Him will be richly rewarded (Hebrews 10:35). As Luke says: “Blessed [happy] is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”

Far from a passive wishfulness, true hope spurs us to action. Anchored in an understanding of the nature and character of God, hope fuels a response to His Word and gives birth to vibrant faith. Strongs Concordance defines the Greek word elpis, which we translate as hope, as “to anticipate, usually with pleasure; expectation (abstractly or concretely) or confidence:—faith, hope.” And so we see that our journey of faith twines intimately together with hope. They are two sides of the same coin. Our steadfast hope in the gospel fuels our faith (Colossians 1), and it’s part of what we are called to as believers (Ephesians 1). It brings our minds and emotions into agreement with truth and enables us to persevere. It’s a fruit of the Spirit, and a sign of His work in our lives.

In short, hope transforms the way we live our lives. It causes us to live from the perspective of heaven.

Hope in Our Lives

Over the next few weeks, I plan to explore the fundamentals of living in hope—how and why hope transforms, how to choose hope, and how to grow in hope even in challenging seasons. And I pray that as you read, you find encouragement and the renewed ability to hope in your own life.

What questions do you have about growing in hope? Are you on a hope journey in your own life? I’d love to dialogue.