Tag: Hope in dark times

From Uncertainty To Eternal Hope . . . .

~ Kathie at HisGlory SM ~ 3 Comments

Months have passed since the pandemic began; the loss of life, of dreams and of fellowship has taken a toll on all of us. In addition to the threat of a virus, tensions have mounted between people ensnared by a willingness to hate.

  • How ARE we, as servants of Christ, to respond to the uncertainties of our time?  
  • What would He have us learn along the way? 

I believe the first thing we need to recognize is that uncertainty in this world is nothing new, Jesus was born into a dark time such as our own, with truth-seekers and truth-haters in need of a Savior. As we approach the celebration of the birth of God’s Son, at the end of this most challenging year, I invite you to join me in savoring the wisdom and encouragement of the Apostle Paul:

“Now we have this treasure in jars of clay
to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.
 We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not in despair,
persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed”

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 
For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us
an eternal glory that is far beyond comparison.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
II Corinthians 4:7-8, 16-18

How are we to respond to adversity in uncertain times?  Paul reminds his friends (and us) of our human vulnerability in a fallen world: fragile . . .earthen . . . clay pots. Because of this, we are to rely on God’s Spirit and the Scriptures to provide the wisdom and strength we need each and every day. In such times, when we feel crushed and broken beyond repair, I have found it helpful to distance myself to from whatever has happened and then ask God to give me His eyes to see two things:

  1. The blessing of His protection and provision–that He is with me always.
  2. To learn (and remember!) whatever lesson He wants to teach me.. 

The blessing is that Paul doesn’t leave is in our vulnerable uncertainty,  but encourages us to embrace the certainty of our hope in spending eternity with Christ Jesus! I especially love that Paul calls us to fix our (spiritual) eyes, not on what is seen, but on what is unseen–God Himself

I invite you to join me in asking God to help us look at the past year through His eyes– to see how He watched over and/or provided for you and I. (For me it was this past August when I was hospitalized. It was a place I greatly feared, and yet through it I received the greatest blessing when He removed my fear and drew me to Himself.)* Also, is there a particular lesson you learned, or insight gained about God, that you want to hold onto as we prepare to enter the coming year? (For me, I will never take hugs for granted again!!!)  If so, then please share how God watched over you to encourage others in the comments below!

All to His Glory!

*To read about my journey you’ll find it HERE. . . . ❤️

Every Day A Gift . . . .

~ Kathie at HisGlory SM ~ 5 Comments

Until it happened, few of us could imagine the vast machinery of civilization being shut down. With streets and airports mostly empty and the future uncertain, we locked our doors and limited our exposure to others as an invisible foe caused us to face our own mortality.  In the decades to come the question frequently asked will be, “Where were you when the pandemic hit?” and, “What did God teach you?“

I had just completed a series of spinal injections and physical therapy  to relieve debilitating pain in my lower back and left leg. Our oldest grandson was home visiting, so we were vacationing for a week at a place rented months before as a family get-away. Three days into our seven day vacation we were told not to drive across the causeway to the mainland because we would not be allowed to return,  When we returned home, all my medical appointments had been canceled we were told to stay home due to COVID-19 . . . the shutdown had begun.

Here is some of what I have learned thus far:

  1. Every day is a gift from God-not a right.
  2. Humanly speaking, it is easy to give way to fear. But God is faithful to help us switch spiritual gears when we confess our fears in faith.
  3. The best way to replace fear with faith is to give thanks to God for His Sovereign Goodness.*
  4. While looking for wisdom in Scripture I found hope in the sufferings of Job:

“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
He does great things beyond our understanding.
He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ 
and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’
So that everyone He has made may know His work,
He stops all people from their labor.”
Job 37:5-7

Quite frankly, I almost choked as the last seventeen words reminded me that God does what He will to draw us closer to Himself and is still in control!

The person who spoke those words was a young man named Elihu– the only one of Job’s friends to urge him to trust God in his suffering.

While reflecting on God’s possible purposes in the “storm” we find ourselves in today, I found the insight of commentator Mike Mason helpful:

“Is not the whole book of Job about men who have been stopped from their work? It is about an enormous work stoppage, an enormous inconvenience that has fallen out of the sky and forced five busy people to drop everything they were doing and to turn for a while to a more important task.” *

And that more important task?

To look at whatever we face with eyes of faith,
as we embrace each day as a gift from God.

The following passages provide further food for thought as we make our way through the pandemic::

“Let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for He will freely pardon.
‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways My ways,’
declares the Lord.
‘As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways
and My thoughts than your thoughts.'”
Isaiah 55:7-9

As with the whole of Scripture, the Apostle Paul spoke truth in love in his opening remarks to the church in Rome: 

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven
against all the godlessness and wickedness of men
who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
For what may be known about God is plain to them,
because God has made it plain to them.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities,
His eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship,
so that men are without excuse.”
Romans 1:18-20

Paul offered those living in uncertain times in his day these words of encouragement in Christ:

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
since as members of one body you were called to peace.
And be thankful.
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly
as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom
through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit,
singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed,
do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Colossians 3:15-17

God continues to encourage those who are in Christ through His Spirit and His Word.  Know and trust that as you continue to give thanks for each new day, He will continue to carry you through any storm you face.

All to His Glory!

*Thanking Him for His love and mercy . . . that we are never alone . . . that His ultimate goal is blessing.

**Mike Mason, The Gospel According to Job: An Honest Look at Pain and Doubt from the Life of One Who Lost Everything, January, 1994, p. 379.

 

 

Deployed For Our Redemption . . . .

~ Kathie at HisGlory SM ~ 2 Comments

Despite the darkness of our times, all around the world this Easter morning HOPE is being celebrated in a multitude of languages with expressions such as these: “He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!”

As death tolls mount because of an invisible enemy called, COVID-19, a verse written by the Apostle Paul in uncertain times has helped keep me steady:

“Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day . . . .
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,
since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
II Corinthians 4:16b, 18

Yet, even as I have found comfort and encouragement in the Scriptures, I have to admit that I have struggled  at the thought of not being able to observe the traditions we normally enjoy with our church family and friends. Has that been an issue for any of you?

One thought that helped me tremendously was something I read online early in the week:

“The church isn’t empty;
the church has been deployed!” 

Having gone through many seasons when my husband was unexpectedly  deployed while serving in the US military for twenty years, I was familiar with the term in a mostly negative way. However, my appreciation for the term widened when I looked it up in Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary where it says:

Deployed–“to spread out, utilize, or arrange for a deliberate purpose.”

He is Risen!

It was that last bit, saying that deployment happens, “for a deliberate purpose“, that settled me with a blanket of HOPE.

In that moment it dawned on me that Jesus was deployed  for a deliberate purpose: to make a way for our redemption and fill us through His Spirit with hope.

Now, two thousand years later, His Church (you and me!) has been deployed to reach out to a hurting world with the HOPE of the Gospel. 

Reading further in Corinthians Paul wrote:

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced
that One died for all, and therefore all died.
And He died for all, that those who live
should no longer live for themselves
but for Him who died for them and was raised again.”
 II Corinthians 4:14-15

One of the things I look forward to every Easter morning, is walking into my church and seeing the Cross–last seen draped in black on Good Friday–festooned with the fragrant beauty of fresh flowers that declare: Jesus is alive and is coming again!

This year was different.  As my husband and I worshiped with our church family online, there was no Cross draped in flowers. Yet God’s Spirit ministered to our hearts powerfully through song and the reading of the Scriptures. One of the songs we sang speaks to the heart of why Christ’s own celebrate His faithfulness on this glorious day:

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied –
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand:
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.*

May the blessings of Christ’s Resurrection encourage you this day, as we live for, love, and serve Him with grateful hearts.

He has Risen . . . and He is coming again!

All to His Glory!

*Stuart Townend & Keith Getty, Copyright © 2001