Tag Archives: Hope

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Isaiah 34

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Get and read God's book: None of this is going away, this breeding, brooding evil. Isaiah 34:16a (MSG)

Marriage is a great magnifying glass. Thrust two people into life together 24/7/365 and you are bound to quickly discover more than you perhaps cared to know about your spouse, and about yourself. You are a broken person. So am I. As human beings we have the capacity to love, but also the capacity for evil.

We like to distance ourselves from the thought of evil. We relegate evil to gross acts of serial murder or genocide that happen somewhere else, to someone else. We read about it in the paper. We see it on the news. It doesn't effect me.

Augustine, however, defined evil as the absence of love. In that context, we commit acts of evil to those we supposedly love on a daily basis. Our selfish and self-centered acts, void of love, drain life from our relationship. In a real sense, our love-less words and actions easily become a slow act of relational and spiritual murder. A slow IV drip of evil into the veins of our relationship.

As Jakob Dylan sings, "evil is alive and well." As Isaiah writes, "none of this is going away."

This doesn't mean that the situation is hopeless. Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." In Jesus, the resources are found for real change. Forgiveness, cleansing, healing, redemption, peace, joy, life and love are available in increasing, abundant measure.

Choose.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Isaiah 18

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Silence is not passive. For here's what God told me: "I'm not going to say anything, but simply look on from where I live…."Isaiah 18:4a (MSG)

There have been stretches along the journey when God seems agonizingly silent. There are times when it feels like God is just sitting back and looking on. This has always frustrated me. As a father, however, I think I may be capturing some understanding of this.

As a parent, you spend much of your time heavily involved in your child's life. You talk, help, direct, correct, punish, reward, chastise and praise. It's a very active relationship, especially when your child is young. As the child grows older, more discernment is required as the child must naturally gain some independence and learn to successfully strike out on his or her own path.

Sometimes I still choose to actively speak into my daughters' lives and circumstances. There are still ways I can and will be actively engaged. Other times, however, I don't say anything but simply look on from where I live. My silence is by no means an indication of indifference. My love is not less. My concern is not absent. If anything, my personal anxiety over them is even greater as I love them enough to let them go.

God's message says that when all else passes away three things remain: faith, hope, and love. If I love my child like God loves me, then I must have the faith to let go at the right time and hope God's best for them. I must also have faith that when God, my Father, seems silent in my life, it is not because He's abandoned me. It's actually an indication of His faith, hope, and love for me.

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Isaiah 4

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Life springs up. And that's when God's Branch will sprout green and lush. Isaiah 4:2 (MSG)

I write this post on the back end of one of the longest, and most brutal winters my hometown has experienced. We shattered the record for the amount of snowfall we had. Each week brought more snow, ice, wind, and cold. And then, it was over. In one week the snow melted, revealing green grass that had been well inslated under a thick blanket of snow. The tulips immediately began to shoot from the ground. Life springs up in the wake of deathly winter.

There is a pattern, a theme, that runs through God's message. It is a message of hope and redemption. We see it in today's chapter and we will see it throughout Isaiah's prophecy. Doomsday and judgement are followed by salvation. Winter is followed by spring. Valleys give way to the next mountain top.

Believe. Press on.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flick and natmeister

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day 1 Kings 11

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Still walking. As Solomon grew older, his wives beguiled him with their alien gods and he became unfaithful—he didn't stay true to his God as his father David had done. 1 Kings 11:4 (MSG)

I've watched many people as they grow older. I've watched certain individuals as their relationship with God grew deeper and more meaningful with each stretch of the journey. I witnessed them becoming more loving, more compassionate, more transparent, and increasingly grateful.

The other day my daughter spoke of a friend who was concerned with what she was witnessing in her parents. Children finally grown, the nest empty, her parents appeared to be drawing away from the things of God. I have, sadly, witnessed similar situations. Like Solomon, the further along in the journey the more alienated and distant they grew from God.

While my relationship with God has certainly changed with time, I can attest it has only gotten deeper, more genuine, and more pure. I often think of one of my wife's favorite phrases from C.S. Lewis: "further up and further in."

I find Solomon's story to be a tragic one. Wisdom was given and then that wisdom was abandoned.

God, may I be faithful in pressing on in life that I might journey further up and further in to relationship with you. May those around me witness the purification of my faith, the steeling of my hope, and the deepening of my love.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and stathis1980

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Judges 20

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My life had become unmanagable.  But they wouldn't do it. The Benjaminites refused to listen to their brothers, the People of Israel. Instead they raised an army from all their cities and rallied at Gibeah to go to war against the People of Israel. Judges 20:13 (MSG)

In today's chapter, the fledgling nation of Israel sinks to new depths of chaos. Their moral compass left true north as they disobeyed God's number one command and mixed their religion with the idols of Canaan. As morals fell aside, authority fell to the tribes and leaders who wielded the most power. People did as they pleased. Now, the moral failings lead to civil war as the tribe of Benjamin defends the rapists among them and stands against their fellow tribes.

As I read today's chapter, I reminded that we must sometimes hit rock bottom before real change can take place. The downward spiral I'm witnessing in the pages of the book of Judges bring to mind the first of the Twelve Steps. Many who have raised their lives out of the ashes of the downward spiral of addiction began with the words "I admitted I was powerless over my addticion. My life had become unmanageable." God's message to all of us is that forgiveness, hope and redemption are available to each of us no matter how deep we find ourselves in the chaotic consequences of our actions.

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 131

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Still waiting. Wait, Israel, for God. Wait with hope. Hope now; hope always! Psalm 131:3 (MSG)

Waiting is a character-producing activity. Even calling the task of waiting an activity seems oxymoronic. Waiting feels like doing nothing. Waiting feels like wasted time.

Still, I'm reminded by the lyrics of today's chapter that my waiting is not void of direction, purpose or activity. I'm to learn contentment as I cool it. I'm to hope while I'm on hold.

[sigh] Man, waiting is hard work.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and Eckler