Sooooo this blog is probably going to be more about where I am at with the Lord, and some things the Lord is taking me through than just about circumstances. Basically the circumstances look like this: My wife's sister still has cancer and Jemma is currently back over in England helping with her family while Jo is in hospital for round two of chemotherapy, we find out this week what the prognosis is so that is a big one, we are still doing House of Prayer on Thursday nights and working on following the vision that the Lord has put in our hearts for that, I have started working part time for my mom with her medical transcription business to make some money for the House of Prayer so that we can hopefully move forward with some things that require finance, and I am talking to our pastor about how I can best help out at our local church (Exchange Church Belfast).
One of the things that has really been on my heart lately, that I wanted to write about is the seemingly paradoxical nature of hope....without it we die inside "Hope deferred makes the heart sick..." Prov. 13:12a, but we also know that "...desire fulfilled is a tree of life." Prov. 13:12b so in other words when the thing we have been hoping for comes to pass, it is life to us; but here is the tricky part, apparently to get hope you must suffer!!! Let me explain, firstly in Romans 5 we see that, "...we exalt in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint..." (vs 3-5a) so apparently the road to hope leads through tribulation which by its very definition is "a cause of great trouble or suffering". Firstly, let me make it abundantly clear what I am NOT saying, I am not saying that God makes us suffer so that we can have hope, that is clearly not the Lord's character. What I AM saying is that everyone (Christian and pre-Christian) experiences tribulations aka troubles, in the words of Jesus "...In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." John 16:28b David wrote in the Psalms, "Remember the word and promise to your servant, in which You have caused me to hope." 119:49 (Amplified Version) We see from this reference and from other Biblical passages that hope is a gift from God. In the Bible the word hope literally means, "a confident expectation of impending good", hope is in essence a gift FROM God to allow belief IN God's good intentions for your life. Basically, what I am trying to say so far is, 1. That all people on earth will go through tribulations and trials, frustrations and disappointments, that is part of life on this planet. 2. That only God can take these trials and tribulations, frustrations and disappointments and in the midst of them give you hope, which according to the Bible "does not disappoint" and 3. This happens when we have become so fully convinced of God's character and of His intentions for us, through reading His word and encountering Him that our "faith" allows us to receive the gift of hope in the midst of seemingly contradictory circumstances.
Allow me to expound on this point. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Heb. 11:1. Faith is what assures us that the character of God is "in agreement" if you will, with what we are hoping for. It is our understanding of who God is, our "faith", correctly established in the revealed will and character of God that enables us to receive hope. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." Rom. 10:17 It is when we hear the words of Christ that faith is ignited in our hearts. When we hear of what Christ has done for us, and what He says about us it ignites faith in our hearts for we know from scripture that Christ is, "...the exact representation of His (the Father's) nature..." Heb. 1:3a So if Christ did it or said it, then it is exactly what the Father is doing or saying, after all He only did what He saw His father doing didn't He?
We can encounter the words of Christ in the scriptures and also through the gift of prophecy. Let me give an example, suppose that someone comes to you with a prophetic word concerning the Lord's desire to use you in really big ways, impacting thousands of people through your business, or your ministry, or even while you are at school etc. You can see throughout the Bible how the Lord has revealed His hearts desire to prosper you and bless you and make you a blessing; there are many scriptures to back this up, so therefore you are empowered to receive hope for the fulfillment of this prophetic word because it lines up with your faith in the character of God. In other words, you would be thinking, "Yes, I know that this sounds like something my Father would say, because I know what my Father's heart is." Even though at that particular moment, your circumstances might make the prophetic word seem a bit far fetched.
So to sum it all up, I believe that some of the key things the Lord has been showing me in this season are that even though everyone goes through disappointments and hard times and things that don't seem to make sense, when we give those to the Lord and allow our faith in His character to ignite the gift of hope in our hearts it will not disappoint, even though it may not look exactly the way we thought or happen in exactly the time that we wanted it to. Faith is different than hope, and we need to have faith in who God is, which allows us in turn to have hope in whatever situation we find ourselves in. Because, our father would never leave us or forsake us, He would not leave us as orphans, He has loved us with an everlasting love, and every good and perfect gift comes from Him!!! (Just in case you didn't realize, that last sentence was a long string of personal paraphrases from the Bible that I just couldn't be bothered to look all the references up for!!! :P)
I have a lot more to say, and will probably blog again soon, but I realize this is a monster blog so I will leave it at that for now and hope that it somehow encourages you. I would love to hear your thoughts or feedback. Thanks for reading.
Blessings,
Evan
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2 comments:
I finally realized I could comment on your blog! I'm not completely computer inept, but I am a bit challenged. Please don't ever text me, I can't figure that out either! ;)
Anyway, I really loved your post. It reminds me of how, before I was saved, that I took all life trials as a punishment. Looking back I see how each situation was used of God to "prove" and strengthen me, even though I couldn't realize it at the time. It's a great comfort now to have had testing and refinement, for otherwise I couldn't realize the deeper things of hope and faith. We have such a good God! It's still difficult to wait on the Lord sometimes, especially in the midst of trial; however, having the experience of God's help in times of past trouble gives me even greater hope for relief in the future. There's often a delusion that a fallen world can be heaven once we're saved - I fall into that trap daily! Your old Auntie is still a work in progress!!
Hebrews 11:1 is one of my favorites, I'm always delighted to see someone use and comment on it.
Miss you honey, I'm glad that I've been able to read about your life. I'm looking forward to the day I meet Jemma. I've been praying for her sister's healing and comfort.
Love you,
Aunt Valerie
keep your eyes on the One who is our hope. Faithful and true to all His promises. Your testimony so encourages me Evan and it is by this testimony that the enemy is defeated!!
Pete
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