Hands up!

Okay, so I have been snowed in for a few days!  I really don't mind at all, but today the sun is shining brightly and I couldn't be more happy!  With the light comes just an overwhelming sense of hope and newness!  When it has been so cloudy, dreary, and snowy for the last couple of weeks, the sun coming out just seems unusually bright!!  

Isn't that sometimes how it is with God.  We go through dark times in our lives, cloudy, dreary, and snowy!  But, wow remember that moment when you know that finally it's all going to be okay.  It's not so dark anymore, the son is shining brightly in our lives again. 

I was reminded last night as I was trying to go to sleep, of God's sovereignty!  I was praying for my friends, brothers, and sisters in Brazil.  For some reason I was thinking about the wall of hands in Campo Grande.  My handprint is on a wall thousands of miles away, as well as the handprints of our other American and Brazilian team members.  I don't know why, but that amazes me that thousands of miles away, a part of me is there!  We were asked by the pastor to each put our hand in paint, and press it on the wall, then write our names and a verse from the Bible.  The verse I wrote was Matthew 5: 14 "You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden."  As we got to be part of building a chapel for this community of believers, I couldn't help but see them as a light to their world!  Again, God just reminded my heart that we are the light of the world.  And, these beautiful, simple chapels in Brazil represent the light of that community.  Light brings hope to a dark world, just like the sun brings hope of a new day.  Our God is so big and sovereign!  To think that a few years ago I would be smitten with such a love for a people in another county would just be impossible to me.  But, not to God!  He is bigger and brighter than I could ever know.

So today enjoy the sunshine, enjoy the hope it brings for the day, and enjoy the promise of a new season that is right around the corner!  

  

Hope!

 Who doesn't want or desire hope?  I think hope drives our lives.  We hope that we will marry the right person some day, we hope that our children will be healthy, we hope that when we graduate from college we are able to work in the field that interests us, and we hope we live a good and happy life.  These are just a few among many things that we hope for, and some of us even pray for. 

Recently as I was reading in Romans 4, I read this verse "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."  The words "against all hope" just kind of screamed at me.  Then my mind went back to his story.  There is no way possible that this couple should have had  a child at their age!  It went against all reason and hope.  It seemed hopeless.  But, it was a promise of God to Abraham.  To me, that's the difference.  To me, that's where our hope comes from…God.  That is who Abraham put his faith in, even in his seemingly hopeless situation.

I have to admit I have been a little obsessed with the book of John lately.  I read an article on how it can be used as an easy tool to share the gospel with someone because it is constantly pointing to Jesus, his love, his reason for coming to earth, and his purpose.  It speaks for itself.  Then as I was studying the gospel of John to teach/share with our group of college students and young adults, I couldn't help but see "hope" as the theme intertwined throughout the whole book of John!  Hope for the sinner  (John 3:16), hope for the sick (John 5:9), hope for the dead (John 11:43) , hope for the disciples , hope of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7), and hope for us as future believers (John 17:20)!  Wow!  We all have those times when we feel hopeless about a certain situation or circumstance, some serious and some not.  The way we handle that completely depends upon on who or what we put our hope in.  I just can't help but want to point everyone to the cross!   When I see a picture of Jesus hanging on the cross, I see hope for absolutely everyone.  What he did for us while we were still sinners, still unaware of his love and sacrifice, to me is the picture of pure hope!  As hard as life can be sometimes, as disappointing as people can be, one thing stands the same, one thing never changes.  Christ died for us, and our relationship with him is full of hope!  Hope is exciting and life giving!!  

I don't know who is reading this or what your current situation is, but I would love to point you to the cross.  I do not even come close to having all the answers to life's tough questions, couldn't even begin to go there, but I do feel confident in who does.  I do believe that Jesus is our hope, and if we have him, we always have hope.  I know we turn to many things for hope.  When we want to lose weight, we put our hope in a new diet, or plan.  When we want to be a better parent, we may put our hope in a book or magazine.  When we need to make more money we put our hope in a better job, and on and on.  Do those things always bring us hope?  Maybe, maybe not.  So, why not try to put your hope in Christ?  Maybe you have already done that and you think maybe it just didn't work out for you, or wasn't for you.  Try again, give God another shot.  Isn't that what we do with the weight loss thing, the job thing.  Don't we keep trying different things until we find what works for us?  People and church may disappoint you and maybe even fail you, but God himself will not.  We put our faith and hope in a lot of things so I think it is a perfectly reasonable thing to try God, even if you have tried before.  Hope!  After all, isn't it just what we all long for, to hope in something, something that really brings hope. 


*I would encourage and invite you to read the gospel of John with an open mind and consider the hope that is in it's words.*