In all the recent posts about hope, I’ve taken such a human and earth-bound view. Our habit is to see what is right in front of our noses today, even when we’re talking about great hopes God has given us. It’s hard for us to peer beyond this world we can touch and see and hear.

Everything we’ve talked about is true. God is for us; He takes an active part in our earthly lives; our hopes, no matter what those are, will never be misplaced when we hope in the Lord of the Universe. No matter what it is we need today, God’s love surrounds us, He holds us, carries us, provides what we need.

But there is an even greater hope for the children of God, a hope that goes far beyond the dust of our humanity and the shortness of our time. This hope is what Paul refers to when he says in Ephesians, “I keep praying that you’ll be able to see this hope to which you’ve been called.”

This hope is that we are becoming like Jesus Christ, who claims us as His own, and we live forever.

Whoa. This is huge. And, frankly, pretty hard to swallow for those who don’t believe. A thought: Remember how the Jews reacted to Jesus when He claimed to be God? And how do you suppose the world today reacts when we claim to have God living within us, claim to be destined to be like Jesus Christ? Perhaps we even have to ask ourselves: Can we believe that? Do we believe that?

But this is God’s plan, the fullness of the hope He gives us, the mystery of God’s relationship to those who come to Him.

This is so huge that we can’t cover it in one short post. Come to think of it, we can NEVER cover the whole subject. The enormity of this is beyond what we will ever be able to grasp, beyond what we can know and understand as long as we are in these bodies. We can only begin to catch glimpses as the Spirit within us opens our eyes to the astounding, grand, immense, out-of-this-world, radical hope we have.

So I’m just nudging you to think about this. Ponder this hope. Ask the Spirit to open your eyes, to help you catch sight of what God has planned for you.

You are called to a hope that will change how you look at everything in your time here on earth.

The images won’t leave me. Houses, folding and crumbling, drifting along on churning waters. Cars and boats and busses bobbing like toys in a bathtub. Entire neighborhoods collapsing, breaking into pieces and floating away. 

I watched the videos of scenes in Japan as the tsunami hit its shores, sweeping away the lives of thousands of people. These were people’s homes, their neighborhoods, their towns, life as they knew it … all washed away in minutes.

How quickly things can crumble and disappear — the things we cling to, the security we try to create, the earthly “structures” into which we have poured our lives. Very few of us have lost everything to an earthquake or a tsunami, but perhaps you have watched your home eaten by flames or a livelihood dwindle to nothing or a marriage shipwrecked and dismantled.

If you’ve never suffered through any such disaster, spend some time today trying to imagine what any one of these calamities would do to your life as you know it now.

Then do two things:

    *thank God for what you do have, and

    *ask the Spirit to give you a glimpse of the hope to which you have been
     called, the fact that your life is not only what happens in these few years
     here on earth.

Your life, child of God, goes far beyond houses and bank accounts and jobs and even human relationships.

Isaiah quotes the one who formed you, who says this:

　More, next time.

Scripture: Isaiah 43:1-2 (NLT)

We had to hurry. We had only 10 minutes to find our way down the maze of walkways. The show would supposedly start in ten minutes.

Others were hurrying along, finding their way to the great outdoor theater. All of the seats nearest the entrance were taken. The huge double circle of benches around the geyser filled as the time neared for Old Faithful’s eruption. Cameras focused. Watches checked. All shapes and sizes of people gathered in anticipation. All ages and nationalities. Parents lifted small children. Everyone’s eyes stayed on one small opening in the ground.

The steam billowed out; there were a few small spurts upward and everyone waited for the grand fountain of water to burst from the ground. Then those few small spurts died, and only steam poured from the cone-shaped mound. We checked our watches. It was time. Was the park’s prediction just a little off today? More people arrived, all hurrying to places where they could catch a glimpse of the spectacle. We don’t want to miss this…

 Then the water spurts came again, and this time they quickly grew. Rising further and further with each gush, white spray against the blue sky. Some gasped, some oohed and aahed, many snapped photos as fast as they could, trying to catch the highest leap, the one most amazing moment.

And then it was over, and people were chattering, checking their photos, estimating how high into the sky the plume had gone, smiling, satisfied … they had seen the famous Old Faithful.

I sat in the circle of benches around Old Faithful and watched the human show that day. No eyes left the mouth of the geyser for long; no one wanted to miss the grand show, the fantastic and impressive dazzle that nature has been putting on … how long? Since the beginning of the earth? In frozen winter and simmering summer, 24 hours a day, whether there is an audience or the arena is empty, that giant plume of water rises into the air, falls, rises and falls. An amazing fountain that no man invented or contrived.

God works in our lives like that. There is the steam, always the steam. Always the presence of God is in our lives, and we see manifestations of it every day in dozens of ways.

Then there are also the magnificent shows of His power, the eruptions into our earthly days of something that is eternal, something that is beyond us and our own intellect and invention. The hand of God moves in our lives, puts on a show that dazzles us.

And it happens on a regular basis. Old Faithful. More than anyone or anything, that is God. He is faithful. His power is always there, always steaming through our lives, erupting in magnificent ways on a regular basis. Watch. Catch the awe of His actions. Don’t miss it. Look for it every day.

The power of God in earthly lives. It’s a show not to be missed.

“When I can no more stir my soul to move, and life is but the ashes of a fire…”
                                                                                        —George MacDonald

I cleaned out the ashes in my woodburning stove this weekend. It’s been a cold winter, and bright fires in that stove brought cheer, comfort, and warmth to my little nest.

These ashes, though, are cold and dirty and … depressing. No warmth. Not even a tiny little glow left in that gray heap.

 What about the times that feel as though only ashes remain? When there is no fire, no energy, no inspiration?

What about those times when you are overwhelmed, when you are so weary you want to quit, when everything seems to be working against you, when even Scriptures that you have held tightly do not keep hope burning?

What then?

Scripture gives us an amazing picture of God’s care of His children, even when it seems that all that is left in our souls is a pile of ashes.  

First, the Spirit of God is always working within you, and it is His strength that carries you through these times.

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groaning that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s will.

So even when we cannot articulate our needs, when there seems to be nothing we can say or pray, when we cannot even cry for help, the Spirit within us brings our case to God. Our help and hope do not depend on what we can do! We are constantly under the care and power of the Spirit who knows exactly what we need–even better than we know ourselves. Wow. Can you believe that?

And God is always working for the good of His children.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one–for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one–for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

The God who created the universe has chosen us as His children. He is working for our good in everything. In everything. He has declared that we are in good standing with Him. He has a plan for each of us. The Spirit within us steps in and connects us to God when we do not know which way is up. And Jesus himself stands beside God, pleading on our behalf.

Hmmm. Just thinking. Maybe the word “hopeless” should be struck from our vocabulary.

In the darkest times, when we are weakest and most helpless, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit hold us. The Bible has all kinds of images that describe this: we are sheltered under His wings; He holds our hand; He hides us in the shelter of a rock; He gathers us in His arms and carries us. One of my favorites is My times are in your hands. I am held in His hands, no matter how things look from my limited perspective. 

OH! and here’s another. Does this describe any time you have experienced?

Praise the LORD,
   for he has shown me the wonders of his unfailing love.
   He kept me safe when my city was under attack.
In a panic I cried out,
   “I am cut off from the LORD!”
But you heard my cry for mercy
   and answered my call for help.

Love the imagery in that passage. The NIV version describes the city under attack as “a besieged city.”

Our Father who loves us, the Son who died to make us heirs, and the Spirit who transforms us keep us safe when we are besieged. 

As the psalmist says, Father, May your unfailing love be my comfort.

Scripture: Romans 8:26-28; 31-34 (NLT); Psalm 31:15 (NIV); Psalm 31:21-22 (NLT); Psalm 119:76 (NIV) 

Just a short personal story to explain the photo of the trees by the water in the last post.

I was vacationing with friends. When we arrived at our rented vacation home, the bedroom situation wasn’t quite what we had expected, and there was a tiny bit of disappointment and frustration. I was tired from traveling. My bed would be the couch in the library.

And I had too many noisy voices in my head that day. I was in the process of trying to sort out whether or not to leave a long-time job. Did I mention I was tired? I was confused. I was doubtful. I was arguing with myself, going ’round in circles. I was torn between old ways and habits of thinking and new paths I felt called to follow …

Not too many weeks before, Jeremiah 17:7-8 had seared itself into my heart. I’d made the decision to trust my future to God’s hands. It was the life I wanted to live.

But did I mention how weary I was that night? Doubts, discouragement, self-criticism, and — yes — even the thought of giving up on what seemed like an impossible vision for a new life … those are the things that held my heart and mind under siege as I went to bed that first night.

When I opened my eyes the next morning, the first imprint on my brain was the view you see in the photo. Without even lifting my head from my pillow, I saw green trees outlined against a shimmering stretch of silver sea. Trees by the water. I had a perfect view, from my bed on the couch.

God simply said, “Trust me.”

For a week, I woke each morning to the view of trees and water and was reminded, “Trust me.”

And, if you look verrrry closely at the photograph, there I sit between the trees at water’s edge… learning to be a tree planted by the water.