I remember my mother used to sing a little ditty which included the line, "Life gets tedious, don't it?" How's that for an understatement? Every day we're seeing natural disasters and horrible events. We see sickness and death, sin and evil, all manner of desperation. None of us are untouched. Everyone has their own opportunity to wonder, "Where are you, God??"
So much of our lives are "under pressure." Some call it "tribulation." We are pressed on every side. Another word is "distress." There is persecution, scarcity of resources, the lack of basic necessities, danger, and violence. If you haven't experienced it, you're not conscious. You're either coming from, in the midst of, or on your way to it. Scripture acknowledges this. The biblical version? "Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword" (Rom 8:35). We will experience all of these things.
It sounds grim, but the conclusion is anything but. "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us" (Rom 8:37). We are not merely getting by, surviving, struggling through. We are "more than conquerors." Do we live that way? Do we believe that? Mind you, it is possible to both be hopeless and hopeful. When Jeremiah experienced God's judgment on his people, he said he was without hope (Lam 3:1-20). He even attributed his pain to God. He concludes, "So I say, 'My strength has perished, and so has my hope from YHWH." (Lam 3:18). And in the very next breath, he says, "This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. YHWH'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'YHWH is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I have hope in Him.'" (Lam 3:21-24). Hopelessness is covered in hope ... in Him. Which are you? Are you a believer? Or are you ... less than a conqueror? Are you going to believe your eyes ... or God?
“[I]t is possible to both be hopeless and hopeful…. Hopelessness is covered in hope ... in Him.
ReplyDeleteIt strikes me that only believers in a sovereign Almighty God can be fully realistic about life’s hardships yet also optimistic about the situation. We are not deluded but fortified. We are indeed hopeless if we must look to our own strength but hopeful if He is our strength. That is so comforting when “life gets tedious.”
You often ask us readers, “who do you believe?” and I appreciate that! It keeps me thinking about whether my faith is real or just of my own making. I often read or hear something like, “He [or she] credits his [or her] faith for helping him [or her] get through this crises,” and then I learn their faith is not a biblical one, and I wonder, “just how did that faith help you in any real way?” Faith in faith is useless, but “the Lord is my portion” and my hope.
The advantage of being an older Christian is that I can believe both my eyes and my God, because He has proven Himself with loving kindness through all my woes. I still wish I was better at holding onto that hope in the midst of it. That's not a prayer God, please don't increase my patience.
ReplyDeleteThis. I've seen YHWH's actions enough to have confidence in the future, yet I still struggle with how I feel in the midst of difficulty.
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