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Hope While Moving

Dear sister,

I am exhausted. My roommate and I are moving soon. Of course we’ve done that before, but not for three years. There are so many logistics to work through. And this time, for the first time, it involves not only purging and cleaning and packing and scheduling and changing addresses and setting up utilities but searching home listings and finding a realtor and a mortgage broker and getting an inspection and an appraisal and signing a never-ending stream of paperwork.

But I said just yesterday that even all this is a reminder of grace. We knew we had a tight time limit for finding a house. In our price range everything was moving quickly—like within a few days of coming on the market kind of quickly. And our lease on our current apartment ends on a certain day. So we researched for months, watching things come on the market and get sold, but there was a one-week window to both find and get in contract on a house.

So what happened? That.

I wasn’t even worried about any of that part of it, to be honest. Every time I move God just sets it up. I never know exactly where I’m going until the moment I need to know, and then the best option is presented right before I have to make a decision. Every. Time. I kept reminding my roommate God would work it out, and He did.

So why am I worried all these tasks won’t get done? They will. They always do. This is my 18th move. I know what I’m doing, and I know how to get it done even amidst running my business and volunteering at a national conference for several days and painting the entire interior of the new place before we move in. Everything that needs to get done will be done (Philippians 4:19, Matthew 6:26).

We hear all the time—on commercials, even from our financial advisors—that “past performance is no guarantee of future performance”. Except with God, it is. He reminds us over and over in Scripture that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; that He brought His people out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land. He promised a Savior, and He sent His own Son to live a perfect life, be tortured, and die on a cross for our sins. He gave us all of His Word to remind us of everything He’s done. He will not abandon us now.

1 Peter 1:3-7: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

My prayer for you this week is that “the tested genuineness of your faith” will “result in praise and glory and honor” (1 Peter 1:7) to the Lord who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8). He who holds the stars in the sky holds your circumstances in His hands. Cling to hope, sister; cling to Him.

Praising Him with you,

Sarah

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Redounding to His Glory

My dear Sister,

It came to my attention that your heart is aching…aching because of a longing, a yearning which is not yielding the desired results. You’ve prayed so much. You have begged the Lord–but you only hear silence.

I was not told what it is you are longing for, but oh, how I have a sense of what you are experiencing. No, I cannot say I know just what you are feeling. It isn’t comforting when someone says those words, “I know exactly what you’re going through”, because no mortal can know exactly how another experiences a trial. I can have a glimmer of it, but not fully. You are different from me and I from you, but I can tell you of that One who knows you perfectly, the One who was tempted in all points like you. He tells you that He feels your infirmity with full knowledge and will help you in your time of great need. (Hebrews 4:15-16 )

I will try to encourage you, try to comfort you, but my words will always fall short, certainly not for want of trying. This One I am telling you about will never fall short or fail you. Our great Savior, through the Psalmist, tells us that unless He is our help, our souls would settle in silence. He says that when our feet slip, He will hold us up. And the author of Psalm 94:17-19 also says that when we are filled with anxieties, as you are at this time, God’s comforts will delight our souls.

Dear, dear sister…In your very real yearning and anxiety and even emptiness, immerse yourself in the Psalms. There you will find our God in all His goodness and tenderness and comfort and power and majesty. You will have taken a deep course in Theology. When you make it a habit of viewing Him in His beauty through His Word, your trouble in the present will blur, even dim. If you practice lifting your heart in responsive praise because of Who He is in spite of your agony, you will begin to view your situation with new eyes, eyes that dwell more on the beauty of the Savior than on the grief and unrequited desire.

What I have said to you was expressed beautifully by that Puritan of old, Thomas Chalmers, when he talked about “the expulsive power of a new affection”. When we love God more than our own desires, even desires for good things, our affection for Christ will expel our affinity for the things of this world.

My suffering sister, commit to loving Him above all else. Stay your mind on Him. Sing. Worship. He will give you His peace, (Isaiah 26:3)… His joy…Such freedom from care…Such grace…Such resolution for the sadness of the soul…Such hope in your pain. As the old chorus says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

If you will begin to think and act in these ways, you may find your situation remaining the same, but your perspective, your heart’s desire, your vision will change and you will become more like our Savior, in whose image you are made. And that is just what He wants–and what He wants is always good. Always.

Oh, yes. One more thing. Think of this when the tendency is to dwell on yourself because of the pain–your suffering actually redounds to His great glory. It is putting Him on display. His mighty strength is made perfect in your utter weakness. How lovely is that!

I love you and will continue to pray for you in your journey.

Love in God’s Truth and His mercy,

Your Sister in Christ,
Cherry

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Hope That Grows

My dearest sister,

It has been 35 years since the day that I received Christ as my Lord and Savior. I have to confess, it has been so long that I had to do the math before I could finish that last sentence. A lot has transpired in my life since that day, and I can thankfully say that I am not the person I was so long ago. If the Lord’s purpose in redeeming this lost soul was to transform (aka change) me then He has done much of that! (Romans 8:28-29)

Being on the receiving end of all this change has not always been easy nor pleasing to look at. In other words, I have not always responded well to what or who God has skillfully used to mold me into the image of His Son. However, one aspect of all this change has become sweeter and sweeter to me. The hope I have in Christ has grown! The Psalmist wrote that as he hopes in God, his praises increase. “But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.” (Psalm 71:14) I wholeheartedly agree!!

My hope is in the One who gives hope. It is grounded or firmly fixed on whom He is and what He has done to secure my salvation and to conform me into His Holy image. The Scripture tells me that this hope is an anchor for my soul. What a tremendous picture. This hope not only grows in size but it grows in depth as well. The more I know Christ and His deep, deep love the deeper that anchor of hope is set in my soul and it is set upon the greatest Rock there is. (Psalm 71:3)

“So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever…” (Hebrews 6:17-20a)

 My dear sister, how has your hope grown since the day you heard the Truth of God’s good news to you? Maybe you have not even stopped from your busyness to think about that. I urge you to do so today and sing praises to your Rock for the anchor that has been set in your soul. But I do not want you to stop there dear one, share this hope with others just as the Psalmist did, just as the one who shared this hope with you!

Holding fast to the Hope that grows,

Susan

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Leaning Into Hope

Dear sister,

Have you noticed that when we talk about suffering we often talk about when a family member gets cancer, we ourselves get sick, or a loved one passes away? I’m not discounting the pain and struggle that comes in these difficult times but what sticks out to me is that these things are outside of our control.

What about the disappointments and shattered dreams we bring on ourselves? I don’t hear anyone talking about those. When I look at my own life and look at the lives of those around me, I feel alienated and alone. Does it ever seem to you, dear sister, like everyone else has life figured out? Do you ever feel like you’re the only one struggling?

I do. That’s why I want to take a moment to shine a light on our depravity. I want to consider Eve, who was the first person to disobey God; David, who committed adultery with his best friend’s wife and then had him killed in battle to cover it up; and Peter, who willfully denied the Lord Jesus in His hour of greatest need. I want to hear their stories. I want to know that I’m not alone. Don’t you?

Some time ago I was in a relationship with a really great guy. He really liked me and wanted to be with me. I liked him as well but was experiencing some doubt and fear. Long story short, a little bit of doubt and fear turned into a lot of doubt and fear and I ended up going down a destructive path and breaking things off with him.

Months later, it suddenly clicked; our future together was as clear as if it had already happened. Shattered, broken, and empty, I ran to God in my distress, giving him the pieces of my broken heart and there he revealed the sins, idols, and wrong beliefs that had been guiding my decisions for a long time.

I was angry with myself for messing up and angry with God for letting it happen. Yet I heard him calling: “Are you willing to go with me? Come, follow me.” I could see where he was taking me; it was dark, scary, and far away from the things I wanted. I did NOT want to go with Him. But after some kicking and screaming I finally surrendered to the work God was doing in my heart.

Let’s fast forward to where God and I, through counseling, mentorship, reading the Word, and prayer, began to identify my idolatry and my enslavement to the approval of others. Then God the Holy Spirit unraveled the lies that had caused me to break my own heart. He also revealed deep hurts that had never healed, and brought reconciliation to broken relationships. Finally, with this new knowledge of the truth, I was able to discard the lies I had been believing.

Even though I still have moments of regret, I am learning to lean into the hope and healing the Lord has brought about through my brokenness, that God is the Always Good Father and that this hardship was necessary for my own salvation and the situation that ultimately will bring Jesus the greatest glory.

Sis, if you have fallen into a snare, please know that you are not alone. It may look like everyone else has it all together, but they don’t. We are all sinners and we all have struggles. Remember that God holds your life and in Christ there is no condemnation but only forgiveness, mercy and grace. Take courage, dear sister, and be strong in the Lord. Whatever you’ve done, it is not beyond redeeming. Whatever you’ve done, it is not the end. God is an expert in redemption and making old things new. You can trust Him.

Fighting with you,

Kayla

And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground.  These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.

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Naomi ~ Hoping in God’s Goodness

Dear Sister,

I am the poster child for Worrier-Extraordinaire. This is not a good thing. Not only does it cause me to fret and age before my time, those around me get to experience the fall out of wife/mom who is stressed, and (the most distressing part of this), NOTHING is accomplished.

I know this, yet I still worry and stress about things that have not happened, may never happen, and over which I usually have little to no control. However, I justify the worry by insisting I am planning, thinking ahead; or by replaying the wrong done to me (or by me), trying to craft a new outcome(?!). In searching the Word for another worrier, I found one who seemed fully justified in her worry and despair—Naomi. Her husband and sons were dead; and she was living in a culture alien, hostile to her own and during a time when women were not wage earners. She was staring into a bottomless pit. She even stated, “the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me.” Ruth 1:13b.

Naomi was so wrapped up in her worry and despair that it took the faith and loyalty of her Moabite daughter-in-law for her to begin to see God’s goodness again. When Ruth came home from her first gleaning trip to Boaz’ fields, Naomi told Ruth, “…it is good my daughter, that you go out with his [Boaz’] maids…” (Ruth 2:22), this ‘good’ is not just a casual “ok”, but it has the connotations of beautiful, best, bountiful, joyful, precious, etc. In the midst of their darkness and sorrow, God had not forgotten, nor were His purposes thwarted. I wonder if Naomi now dances before the King, still wondering why she fretted when He had such magnificent plans for her family.

My family and I recently completed one of those military moves that are fun to joke about when they happen to someone else. I worried, fussed, pouted, and cancelled the move multiple times, yet it still happened. We did finally get a house and our goods arrived, we moved in and got on with the business of living. Yet, the worry and frustration still dogged me. I have come to the conclusion that I may never know what God’s plan was in all the intricacies and difficulties of the move, and that is ok. I can find the good—the beautiful, best, bountiful, joyful precious good He has for me right here, right now.

I am still a planner, but I will try to plan without brooding—communicating my thoughts and frustrations sooner than later. I can identify when I am wronged, not for the purpose of seeking justice for myself, but to determine how to forgive. Finally, I will be more like Ruth who simply got up and started working; and like Naomi, who began to dare to hope in God’s goodness. He is worthy of our hope, and gives abundantly to His children. “Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel. May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age…’” Ruth 4:14-15a.

Running with you,

Rebecca