All in Hope
The change in Habakkuk has been profound. In the company of God, in awe and praise of the Holy One, the prophet has regained his spiritual balance. Even if he’s still shaking in his boots, he has relinquished control: Yet I will wait patiently! (3:16). Judah will be exiled in Babylon for 70 years, but they will return. Babylon will be overthrown.
The pages of Amos are filled with sorrow—this lament I take up concerning you: “Fallen is virgin Israel, never to rise again” (5:2). The visions the LORD gives his prophet are too great to bear.
From the beginning of time, the enemy of our souls has worked to get our attention on what we don’t have. Take Eve for example…of all the wonderful things available to her in the Garden of Eden, the enemy caused her to focus on the one tree that was not available to her.
The “hope of the gospel” is my purpose—my one thing. God is faithful to remind me of this when I question my life and forget who and whose I am. What about you?
The God we worship, the God of Scripture, is a lot of things: wise, powerful, omniscient, omnipotent, loving, forgiving... And on any day, most of us a need a God who possesses these qualities and more.
On the seventh day, God, in a sense, stood back to look over Creation and pronounced it “done.” He rested from His work because there was nothing more to do. And, Creation “rested” also because it was at peace and in perfect balance within itself. Then God blessed it—“sent it forth for abundance and enrichment” and hallowed it—“set it aside for a sacred purpose.”
“Well, what did He say? What did He say your name was? Tell me, tell me, tell me!”
“He said my name would be ‘elephant’.”
Believe it or not, the process that Paul describes above is similar to the one oysters use to make pearls. But did you know only about one in ten thousand oysters actually produce pearls?
It is inevitable. We wake up one day and realize we are in the valley of life. Life is like that. Mountains and valleys. Ups and downs. Highs and lows. If you aren’t living in the valley right now, chances are you just came out of one or you’re heading into one.
Picture this: Take a dry sponge and pour water over it. All its holes fill up, and it doubles in size. When it gets to the point it can hold no more, the water flows over the edges. It is “satiated;” the Hebrew meaning of satisfies, in our verse today. It is the filling and even overfilling of appetites or desires.
If faith is being certain of what is unseen, then why are eyes important in scripture?
Is there a situation that you are facing that seems hopeless right now?
I have been there.
For many years, my Christmas cards have held the message, “May all your hope and expectation be found in Him”. Christmas is a season of hope. But there are often so many unspoken and unrealized expectations that we are left disappointed when the tree is put up and the wrapping discarded.
A World War II veteran shared some of his experiences at my church. He recounted carefully maneuvering through a minefield with his troop. Terror filled the group as one of his buddies up ahead inadvertently stepped on a mine. This soldier knew he had no hope unless someone helped him. All he could do was stay extremely still, remain calm and wait. One wrong move would end his life.
I have always loved the word, “Sanctuary”. It takes me back to the church of my childhood where I sang about Jesus even before I knew Him as my Savior. The building that was the sanctuary was old with red carpet and pew cushions and arched windows with fake stained glass. The wood was honey-golden and the pulpit was smooth from use. I was baptized there above the choir loft, and I learned so much about God in my years there.
Are you familiar with Ezekiel’s experience with the dry bones? The Lord showed Ezekiel a valley full of a ‘great many’ dry bones and told him to prophesy to them: “I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 37:5-6). And that is just what God did!
It is no secret. The people of Judah experienced God’s faithfulness to his warning. If they departed from Him, He would bring judgement upon them. They departed. He destroyed. The Babylonians came in, crushed Jerusalem, ravaged the Temple, and carried the people off into captivity.
What do you build on?
For many years … I found hope and joy from my next vacation or the next new, fun thing for my house or fancy meals eating out.
I built my hope on the things money can buy.
When my daughter was four, she asked my husband, “Daddy, what is an inheritance?” He explained that everything that was Mommy’s and Daddy’s would be hers one day. She sat quietly for a minute and then responded, “Does that mean that one day I will get your chapstick?” Her daddy’s chapstick was the thing she cherished most. Now that she is older and wiser, I wonder if she would be satisfied with only his chapstick?
