Source of Hope

Hope. Hope of Spring. Hope of a new day. Hope of healing. Hope of something new. Hope of leaving our houses.

We put our hope in many things—finances, the economy, friendship, marriage, the Air Force, the government.

But hope is a fickle thing. We can feel hopeless even when we know we should have hope. Winter often seems never-ending here in Montana, but it is not hopeless because we all know spring will eventually arrive. Even as the snow continued to fall, the buds on the tree in the above picture reminded me that spring is on the way.

Miscarrying our first baby left me with a feeling of utter hopelessness. Even though I knew it was a common occurrence and had even known friends who had miscarried and then gone on to have healthy babies, and even though the doctor assured me there was no underlying medical condition that made getting pregnant again a risk, I still felt hopeless. Even though there was every reason to hope, I felt hopeless. Hope can be fickle.

What hopeless situations have you faced? Maybe this pandemic and the ways it is affecting you feels hopeless. The people out protesting the stay-at-home orders must feel hopeless in the situations in which they find themselves!

Even we milspouses, who are used to having the government tell us what to do on an almost-daily basis, are feeling the hopelessness of various situations within the pandemic. A move that was supposed to happen but is postponed and then postponed again. Seniors graduating without the celebrations we desire for them. Work schedules that look different than normal and have thrown off our day-to-day routine. Schoolwork which seems impossible to explain to students who listen better when a teacher tells them what to do. Cancelled vacations with little hope of rescheduling. All of these situations might have a sense of hopelessness to them.

Where do we turn when hopelessness closes in? 

Those things I mentioned earlier—finances, the economy, friendship, marriage, the Air Force, the government—all fail us eventually. None of those are dependable sources of hope. And many are experiencing the truth of that right now. People are out of work with no income. The economy has taken an extreme hit. Friendships cannot solve most of the problems we face (although they often provide a wonderful distraction!). Our marriages are facing their own issues—magnified by being together all the time or by lengthy separations. And the Air Force, well, we all know that can be a roller coaster ride in itself!

I have moved away from many friends over the years. At one location, I was very close with one friend in particular. We had boys the same age and we did all kinds of things together, spending time together several days of the week. When it was time for my family to move, we said we would keep in contact and not go more than a couple weeks without catching up. It has been several years now since I have been in contact with her. I’m not exactly sure what happened, it wasn’t a falling-out, it was just a falling-away. But if my hope had been in that friendship, I would have found myself hopeless when the friendship didn’t last.

What, then, is a dependable source of hope? Is there a hope that isn’t fickle? In my experience, the only dependable place to go for hope is faith in a God who promises He is the “same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

This might beg the question: What about Him is the same? What characteristics make Him dependable? That is a question with so many answers I couldn’t begin to cover all of them, but let’s look at a verse that captures several.

Psalm 36: 5-7 tells us, “Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.” (italics mine)

His love never ends; He is faithful; He is right and just; He cares; He shelters us. Yet, these are just the tip of the iceberg in describing God’s never-changing attributes!

If these are all true characteristics of God (and I believe they are), we see that we can depend on Him. And if that is the case, then we can begin to believe we could have hope in Him. A hope that is not fickle.

Romans 15:13 says, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Not only can we have hope in Him, He is the very source of hope. He is where our hope originates. Without Him, there is no true hope. And with His joy and peace filling us, we can “overflow with confident hope.” Who doesn’t want a little of that in their lives?!

So, if He can instill in us the hope we need in all our situations, what impossible situations have hope because of Him?

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” (Psalm 37: 23)

Every detail of our lives. What detail do you need to entrust to Him in this season of your life?

Does that detail seem impossible? Hopeless?

Then allow me to tell you why you’re wrong. If you believe what I have been saying, then you believe in a God who is in the business of making a way where there was no way. As a popular worship song says, He is a “way-maker”.  

“When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted. … But then I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. … Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters—a pathway no one knew was there!” (Psalm 77: 2, 11, 19)

A path no one knew was there. A way-maker. Does your situation seem like there is no way? Trust in the One who is in the business of making paths where no one else saw one. The One who makes a way.

Mark Batterson, an author and pastor in DC, says it this way: “Jesus says, ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.’ Jesus isn’t just the way, He is the way-maker. … Jesus walks on water. No way! WAY! … Jesus encounters a man born blind…there is no way you are ever going to see again. No way! WAY! … Lazarus, 4 days dead, you are never going to see the light of day again. No way! WAY!”

We can choose to put our hope in many things in this life, but in my own experience, He has always been the only dependable hope, the only hope that is not fickle. Let’s be honest, I still have to walk through difficult circumstances. I have never received a full-blown miracle like the ones listed above. But in every situation in which I have placed my hope in Him, He has been faithful to walk beside me and to make a way where I couldn’t see a way. “This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.” (Hebrews 6:19)

I believe that for your situation as well. May the way-maker reveal His path that no one knows in there!

Where will you place your hope?

Grace enough...

There is grace enough for this. You have grace enough for this. For this social distancing. For this isolation. For 100% family time all the time. For being a “facilitator of education”. For each other. For being asked to give more of yourself than you think you have to give.

How do we even begin to list the ways we need grace right now?

Maybe what we don’t need is a list.

Maybe what we need is a definition. A place to begin….

Did you know Meriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary has 8 definitions for the word grace? Some don’t apply: a musical trill, turn, or appoggiatura; or a title of address or reference for a duke, a duchess, or an archbishop. 

But some of them do apply to this COVID-19 season of self isolation we are in. Let's look at the ones that have something to teach us.

Grace: a charming or attractive trait or characteristic; a pleasing appearance or effect; ease and suppleness of movement or bearing.

              

Please excuse my lack of grace since I am no longer doing my hair or my makeup. Is this true for anyone else or it is just me?!

Grace: a sense of propriety or right. The quality or state of being considerate or thoughtful.

Please have the grace to obey our government’s requests and orders to stay at home right now.

There is grace for the different ways we approach this. One family may determine that take-out is too risky and another deems it safe. One family allows their children to play outside with other kids and another thinks it is too dangerous. We should have grace for these things. Our government and our base leadership have not asked us to give those things up (yet), so they have not determined either to be unsafe, yet we have different approaches. There is grace for this.

What ways are you seeing this type of grace? 

Grace: approval, favor, disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy or clemency; a temporary exemption.

I have a text thread with my neighbors right now so whenever someone is headed to the commissary, we check in to see if anyone else needs something. We are extending grace to each other.

              

Each morning I have a devotion time with my boys during breakfast and we pray we would have grace and kindness for one another through the day. Even though we homeschool, both boys had activities that took them outside the house and away from each other for hours every day. They no longer have that and it is a lot of together time! Most of you are experiencing a LOT more time together than you have ever had before. Do you have grace for one another?

              

One of my boys is an extrovert who wakes up with energy and ready to go complete with words and songs and noises. The other is an extreme introvert who prefers quiet. It takes quite a bit of grace for them to get through breakfast together! (Sometimes it takes a lot of my own grace or a quiet request of less extra noise if all this occurs before my morning coffee!) 

I bet you have similar situations and stories in your own homes. We have to have grace for each other’s different personalities and the ways we approach life. Even how much personal space we need!

No matter what your personal situation, if you are married, this whole thing has probably stretched your marriage in some way, too. For some of you, you are together 24/7. Maybe others of you are apart longer than you are used to. Either end of the spectrum requires extra grace for one another. How do you navigate that as a couple? In what way does your spouse need grace from you right now? 

Grace: unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification; a virtue coming from God; a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine assistance.

This is by far my favorite definition of grace! Do you know why? Because it reminds me I don’t have to do this alone. Re-read this: unmerited divine assistance given to humans. In non-dictionary terms, this simply means we don’t deserve it, but God doesn’t make us do this alone. In fact, according to this definition, grace is a trait that comes from God, not ourselves.

              

There is not a single piece of this season or situation that God does not know about and He stands ready to help. He knew it would be too much for us, but He isn’t asking us to do it alone.

              

Today was a hard day for me. I faced a mountain of grief over something our family is missing out on. And in spite of starting my day in Psalms and listening to worship music, my tears have not subsided. And you know what? There is grace for that. God has met me here in this place in some amazing ways! My sister called when I didn’t plan to talk to her because I knew I would just cry. And I did, but she was such an encouragement to me as she waited patiently for me to explain through the tears. A dear friend who often asks what she can pray for understood and placed value on my emotions even though she is facing something much more difficult. Another friend checked in and got the whole story only to text me back the most amazing, perfect-for-today prayer. My mom has checked in and prayed for me several times today and told me how amazing I am. I texted back that I don’t feel amazing, but am so thankful that she still thinks so. 

God was in each one of those encounters. Reminding me that I am not alone—not only has He shown Himself present with me, He has sent so many others to show me I have friends walking (figuratively) beside me as well.

              

There is grace for this. There is grace for the grief-filled days. There is grace for the joy-filled days. There is grace for every kind of day in between—the stressed days and the sleepy days and the I-am-a-rockstar-mom kind of days and the I-suck-at-everything kind of days. Even in your isolation, you are not alone. And there is grace enough to get you through this season.