There is Hope

For the last week I have had the wonderful privilege of starting my morning looking at God wonderful creation. I spent the last seven days admiring and wading in one of God’s created rivers fly fishing and taking in its beauty. I spent quite moments and devotions just looking at everything God made. I watched an eagle look at fish as they came to the surface to sip a gnat. I watch brown trout splash full into the air trying to catch an insect. I enjoyed geese landing on the river around me and ducks sail in to feed in a back water marsh. I set on the grass and just watched the water flow by and enjoyed the wonders of creation. Yes, only God could do something so amazing.
Yet, in all that wonder and beauty there were some things I had to look over. Like mud on the bank that stunk so bad I had to hold my breath as I waded out to in to the river. There were dead fish half eaten by a bird or some prey. There were mosquitos and biting flies and the cans and even old tires left by humanity. Yes, there were several things that as I enjoyed the beautiful creations of God, I had to look over or past to see the hope and beauty of what was there. Though they were there they never one time dimmed my wonder and enjoyment of what God had created. I simply looked past them in hope to see the hand of God.

Now I’m home back in the office looking at the community I feel God has called me to and yes, it’s a pretty neat place. It has a lot of promise and everywhere I look there is the hand of God doing what only God can do. I marvel at His power and the moving and healing of His hand. But I cannot deny that there is also a lot of mud, brokenness and sin sick lives. Yes, right in the middle of my world I seem to step past and around a world that is in real need of change and help. Yes, I see the wonders of the Lord but also our world is broken. It has some very heavy needs. Yet there is hope.

Yes, Evil is alive and well. There are some very ugly things. The enemy of our soul is alive and doing his thing. Headlines often leave me speechless. Actions of people and families leave me shaking my head. Actions and decisions of people sitting on church pews sometimes cause me to wonder if they ever pray. Yes looking around our world there is a lot of stinking mud and weeds. Death and rotten lives. Yet there is hope.

There is hope, which is what keeps me going. Just as I waded through and past the mud in the river where I was fishing to get to the beautiful part of the stream, there is hope for the muddy places of life. There is hope if I push on and through that there will be a beautiful part. I can’t deny this world is fallen – it’s broken. Evil exists; some things are far from beautiful. Yet, there is hope. God has a plan and that plan includes me if I dare to believe. There is hope and help, it’s that breath that keeps me going and believing. If I have faith there is hope. Jesus said that HE came that they might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). Jesus also warned us in that scripture that there is a thief that’s only purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. But He came to get lives past the mud.  Yes there is hope and there is a plan.

Yes, this world is vastly becomes worse and worse. This is also promised in the word of God. Yet Jesus never intended on us just throwing up our hands in disgust and quitting. No there is a plan because there is hope. Yet looking at all that is wrong in this world we often wonder:

·         How do I live daily in such a broken place?

·         How do I press on in looking for the beauty of God at work?

·         How do I live in a world that is not good?

·         Do I live as if there is no hope?

Let me answer the last question first. As children of the Lord we must never be found living as if there no hope. The Apostle Paul in writing to the Thessalonian Church said, “Do not sorrow as those who have no hope (anticipate with pleasure, expectation).” (1Thessalonians 4:13) There may be a lot of mud, brokenness and death but there is hope or expectation of the hand of God. The Almighty is at work. To live without hope is to have no faith which scripture tells us it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). No, there is hope.

Yes, we live in a world that is no so good but there are days and even seasons when we see the clear beauty of what God is up to. Miracles, signs and wonders. Yes, there is hope. Yet, I must understand that there are seasons. I walk for God daily and live for Him daily and I see His hand on a regular basis. But there are time when God chooses to work His greatest in a season or element of time. So I wade through the mud of life to get to where God is showing is greatness. That is hope.

I read this, this week from another writer. It explains it clearly.
I see churches that take on these personas. Some behave as if it really is Disneyland. It's almost as if the church is a cruise ship dedicated to wonderful activities to keep Christians busy. There is no real challenge, no talk of sin, no clear vision and little to no sacrifice… It's a by-product of how someone sees life. There are churches that seem to go to the other extreme. It's often about what they stand against, more than who they are for…. They acknowledge the fallen world, and its brokenness, but don't seem to embrace the hope of redemption. These churches are profoundly discouraged and discouraging. Dan Reiland

Yes, it’s often easy to extreme in one way or another. You will have to pray every day that God helps you put on the whole armor so you can stand in this evil day. Make sure you gird your life with Truth so you do wonder to the right or to the left. The world is broken but it’s also hurting and Jesus said He was sending us into this world to show the Light. Because there is hope.

Yes, we tend to often be more known for standing and declaring how dark the world is. We are often more heard about on how black the darkness of this world is. Jesus though looked at it in a different way. He said we are to be a light on a stand, a city on a hill, salt that changes the taste of something. In other words Jesus wants us to bring the Light to this dark sinful muddy world. We are called to shine a light not curse the darkness. There really is hope.

Yes, this world often has glimmers of hopeful beauty and change, very miraculous moments. Then we are reminded quickly there is a lot of mud, darkness and evil. Yes, sin is very dead end. But God has called us to bring a light and not just any light but the Light. The Light that shined in darkness and the darkness cannot comprehend it (John 1:5).

So, live on for Jesus. Let your Light shine. There are a lot of miracles about to happen. There are beautiful stories of redemption waiting for a lot of lives just past the mud. Wade on shining the Light, there is hope.