Hope

The subject of fear, doubt, anxiety, etc hits very close to home, so I want to take some time here and remind myself (and whoever reads this blog) what Jesus/ the bible and some great Christian leaders have to say about fear.  

"God does lead his people on roundabout ways.  He does not move hastily.  He is never in a hurry.  It is one of his most irritating qualities." -John Ortberg.

In Love Beyond Reason, Ortberg continues about "the God who takes his people to the Promised Land by way of the desert."  But why?  If God loves us like sons and daughters, can't He calm the storms in our lives?  Why does God let it be so difficult?  

I like Ortberg's answer: "The desert is where you face the question of perseverance.  The desert is a place where only the patient can go on."  Here God's love lands in a deeper place.  "In the desert all we have to cling to is the promise.  God has not forgotten you."  Here Romans 8:15-17 is life-giving, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.  And by him we cry 'Abba, Father.'  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."

Really take a moment to think of the implications of a statement like, "The Holy Spirit tells our spirit that we are God's children."  That's one part of the trinity saying we're God's children, how about another?  In Matthew 7:9-11, Jesus (The Son) says, "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"  (Just look at my hot girlfriend as evidence of this being true).  That's two members of the trinity considering humans sons and daughters of God.  Psalm 139: 13-16 says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."  We were created by God.  He made us.  That is why He sees us as His children.  This is profound, to me.   

There is a field in social science that attempts to study resiliency.  Researchers study people who have survived traumatic experiences.  For example, they studied 3,000 POW's who returned from being "brainwashed" in Korea, victims of crippling accidents and children from very difficult backgrounds.  Their answers (the resilient ones, rather) all shared a few themes.

• Resilient people continually seek to reassert some command and control over their destiny rather than seeing themselves as passive victims.
•  Resilient people have a larger than usual capacity for what might be called moral courage--for refusing to betray their values
  
• Resilient people find purpose and meaning in their suffering
  

These qualities are not just the product of a strong character.  Each one of them grows out of a deep dependence on God.  Jairus's daughter being dead didn't phase Jesus.  Surely my enormous student loan debt won't phase Him either.  Whatever you're going through isn't too big (or trivial).  Jesus says, "Don't be afraid; just believe (Mark 5:36)."  In Matthew 21:22 Jesus says to his disciples, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."  This takes faith.  God, I believe.  Help my unbelief.  Psalm 25:3 says that no one whose hope is in [God] will ever be put to shame. 

Sometimes I doubt that God really cares about me.  I believe that He loves me, because I believe that what Jesus said is true.  But I sometimes doubt that God likes me and therefore, doesn't care if I'm blessed.  Take a guess where this thought comes from.  

From cover to cover, the bible is about God doing everything in His power to be with His people (me and you).  He delights in us, the bible says.  So when times are hard, when we are in a desert, when the storm is tearing everything else apart, remember Paul's words, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; confused, but not in despair."  

"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." -Luke 12: 6+7