I am delighted to welcome Jean Gibson to the Unmasked: stories of authenticity blog series. Two of her books have appeared in a new, combined edition and, to celebrate, I asked her to share with us some stories of hope, which also tie in well with the devotional series currently running.
‘Hi Karen, how are things this week?’
She grimaced. ‘Not so good.’
Then her face lit up. ‘But I’ve found a great verse. Whenever I feel down I repeat it to myself. It’s Romans 12:12. “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”’
Karen had terminal cancer. As I looked at her, I thought, ‘Joyful in hope. That’s the title for your chapter in my book. In fact, that’s the title of the whole book.’
I had just completed my first book, Seasons of Womanhood, and was working on the second – another book of stories demonstrating how God brought hope into the lives of women in a variety of challenging situations. Karen’s story was still being lived out in front of me.
The books had come about as I realised how many of the women I knew were seeing God at work in their lives through their everyday circumstances. From the ‘wild child’ teenager caught up in the Northern Ireland troubles to the young singer struggling with childlessness and the mother facing the end of life, women were finding God as the ultimate answer.
Sometimes that answer was a miraculous change in their circumstances, but sometimes it was a deep awareness of the hope brought by his presence as the difficulties continued.
The phrase ‘joyful in hope’ reminded me how often the themes of joy and hope are linked throughout the Bible. In Nehemiah 8, the prophet encourages the people to rejoice in the God who had helped them through their time in exile and through the challenges of rebuilding temple and city: ‘The joy of the Lord is your strength.’ (Nehemiah 8:10) The rebuilding project involved everyone, at different stages of life. But they all knew God’s joy upholding them as they hoped in him to work out his promises.
There are times when life is tough for all of us. But as we focus on God, not our problems, we find his hope and joy building within us. The secret is in living close to our Heavenly Father, in waking each morning with the realisation, ‘This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Psalm 118:24) Through everything that happens, our relationship with him holds firm.
Zephaniah 3:5 tells us, ‘Every new day he does not fail.’
Whatever season of life we are living in just now, the excitement of springtime, the beauty of summer, the joy of harvest or the challenge of winter, we can rejoice every day in the hope he offers.
Further on in the same chapter of Zephaniah we read, ‘The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.’ (Zephaniah 3:17) When we come to him, he delights in us, he loves us, he even rejoices over us. We cannot understand it but as we trust him, we come to know the truth of it.
Whatever is happening in our lives, God’s faithfulness is constant. And so we can embrace this day – get outside, enjoy the beautiful world God has given us, move our bodies, exercise our creativity, meet friends, make the most of every day he gives us.
If we grasp the opportunities we have today, with God’s help we can have lives that are extraordinary in his strength. We have an all-powerful God. There is no limit to what he can do through us if we are willing to find our hope in him.
One of the stories I told in Seasons of Womanhood was of my dearly loved Auntie Jean. As I grew, Auntie Jean shared with me her love of books, her love for nature and her love for God. In later life, she developed dementia and, although our relationship remained strong, she began to change as her memory deteriorated and her behaviour altered.
The effects of Alzeimer’s disease became more marked and yet her faith in God remained alive. Although she was often confused about day-to-day events, she could repeat many psalms from memory. Her favourite was Psalm 91: ‘He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”’
In the frightening confusion of memory loss, right to her last day, she still knew the security of God’s love surrounding her. The hope she found in him as a young teenager kept her strong all those years later.
Illness, sin, anxiety, loneliness and many other circumstances can shake our world. But nothing can remove the reality of God’s love and the hope we have in him.
Prayer: Lord you know the challenges I face today. Thank you that your love and power are greater than them all. Help me to be joyful in hope throughout this day.
Having been involved in theological education in Kenya for a number of years, Jean Gibson now focuses her attention on writing and speaking. Her books include Seasons of Womanhood, Joyful in Hope and An Open Door. Jean’s website is http://www.jeangibson.co.uk