19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
What is hope? A basic definition states, “Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. It is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. [1] To hope is to wish for something with the expectation of the wish being fulfilled,
However, in theological terms, Hope is one of the three virtues in the Christian tradition. Hope is a desire for something and expectation of receiving it from the Lord. Like all virtues, hope arises from the will, not passion.
“Hope arises from the will and not passion.” In other words, one has to do more than passively desire. One has to have the will to expect God to move on one’s behalf. The attitude that hope arises not from passion, but from the will suggests that it takes the will of the heart, mind and soul to hope when hope seems to be an exercise in futility.
Back in the 80’s, The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., coined the phrase, “Keep Hope Alive.” He used this as he pursued the highest office in the land, the presidency of the United States of America. As impossible as it seemed for an African American to become president, Rev. Jackson insisted that we had to “keep hope alive.” Although he did not win, Jesse became the forerunner to the first African American to attain the dream of holding that office in the person of Barack Obama. Why? Because somebody had the will to keep hope alive. Hope transcends individuals. Hope is transformative. Hope is expansive. Hope moves beyond one person to communities, nations and the world.
God wants you to keep hope alive. Even if your dream has died, YOU have not died! God is not through with you! For God has been known to resurrect that which has been dead! But maybe, just maybe, your hopes for your life had to die, so that you could receive the blessings and benefits of God’s hope for your life.
Sometimes our hopes and dreams are too short. Sometimes our hopes and dreams are too small. Sometimes our hopes and dreams are too self-centered and sometimes our hopes and dreams will prevent us from fulfilling that which the all wise and eternal God has purposed for our lives since before the foundation of the world.
The prophet Jeremiah teaches us a profound key to hope. In verses 19-23, Jeremiah says,
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
In other words, Jeremiah says, “When I reflect upon all of my problems, my wanderings, my losses, my soul remains bitter and cast down. But when I the conscious decision to “call to remembrance God’s great love, God’s never-failing compassion and God’s GREAT faithfulness, I have HOPE! As mentioned earlier, Hope is not an act of passion. Hope is an act of the will. In other words, you’ve got to make up your mind to have hope. Passion comes and goes. That hot, intense, excited feeling that propels you onward is not going to be there on a continuous basis. We couldn’t stand it – it would burn us up! Passion is just one aspect of hope. Yes, it is a necessary element, but it cannot stand alone. Passion must be connected to something bigger. We must have hope.
Hope fuels our passion. Hope is tied to our trust in God’s love, God’s compassion and God’s faithfulness. You cannot focus upon God’s faithfulness and love towards you and hold onto the bitterness and gall of your past. Whether it’s mistakes that you have made or wrong things that someone else did to you or unfortunate life circumstances, if you choose to focus upon God’s faithfulness and love towards you, your hope will rise.
There are some things that we must do in order to survive the “bitterness and gall” in life and to keep hope alive,
God has brought you this far. God has been with you all the days of your life. God has sustained and kept you. God is mighty to save. God will carry you through. In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, Jesus has overcome the world and so can we!
We must say to ourselves, the LORD is my portion, therefore I will wait for Him…
The Lord is our portion…the Lord is our provider…the Lord is our supplier…continue to serve Him, continue to pray…continue to hope…continue to trust…WAIT on the LORD…He promised that your strength would be renewed, that you would mount up on wings like an eagle, run and not get weary, walk and not faint WAIT on the LORD!
We must remind ourselves that the LORD is good to those whose hope is in Him and seek Him…
We must remind ourselves that the LORD is good to those whose hope is in Him. We must remember that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. We must remember that things look one way to us, but God sees the big picture. We must remember that even if this earthly tabernacle should be destroyed, we’ve got another building not made with hands whose builder and maker is God.
We must remember that those who sew in tears shall reap in joy. We must remember that even in our pain, even in our toil, even in our utter confusion and frustration, God sees us, loves us and is with us. He will carry us over and see us through. Great is God’s faithfulness towards us.
Jesus, our elder brother bore it all for us. He suffered, bled and died for us. He was wounded for us and He is risen for us. He is a compassionate savior who carried the load for us and knows the pain, knows, the anxiety, knows the toil, knows the struggles, knows the tears and therefore He knows how to comfort us in all of our sorrow and pain.
No matter what you are facing, trust God. No matter what you are fearing, trust God. No matter how hard your road, trust God. Make up your mind to call to remembrance God’s goodness, God’s mercy, God’s compassion, God’s faithfulness. Determine to keep hope alive in your heart. God will see you through!
Until next Wednesday,
In Faith, Hope and Perseverance,
Pastor Chris
www.shepastorchris.org
No comments:
Post a Comment