A humble hope

Reflections based on 1 Samuel 1:12–20.

We are continuing to look at Hannah’s life this week. I think it would have been totally understandable if Hannah’s soul had been completely overtaken by bitterness. After all, she was being ridiculed by those around her, God hadn’t answered her prayers and even the priest thought badly of her – he asked if she was drunk! But she resolutely held her ground with God. Although troubled, she kept going back to Him. And through doing this, she seemed to push through the suffering and reach a new place of calm. Look at verses 15–18. She had been pouring out her soul to God in grief, but suddenly she gets up and eats, no longer full of sadness. We aren’t told what happened; whether what Eli the priest said to her encouraged her and/or, in her honest outpouring of her heart, she came to a place of leaving the pain with God. I would like to suggest that she learned the lesson of true humility – giving up her right to understand why she was having to wait. 

A few years ago I attended a women’s day with a speaker that challenged us on this very point. Do we cling to what we think is our ‘right’, demanding God give us answers and allowing our hearts to grow cold and bitter as a result? Or do we set our minds to hope in God whatever our circumstances, and lay down our rights to know the reasons behind any delay and disappointment? That day I learned to take a very honest look at my motivations, desires, hopes and dreams – and the self-pitying attitude that can appear at unhelpfully regular intervals. I hope that I, too, can learn to be as persistent, honest and humble as Hannah.

For prayer and reflection: God there is so much to learn from the life of Hannah. Please help me to lay down my rights to understand everything that happens to me, and to trust You always.

Persistent hope amongst the pain

Reflections based on 1 Samuel 1:1–11.

We are going to spend some time in the coming weeks taking a closer look at a few biblical characters to see what we can learn about hope from them, starting with Hannah. 

Hannah was unable to conceive, something that carried such stigma in Old Testament times because it heaped social embarrassment on the family. But, not only that, she was daily taunted by her husband’s other wife. I have not suffered the terrible pain of infertility, but I have close friends who have, and I know the deep-seated anguish that it carries. Indeed, Proverbs 13:12 says ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick’, and I think that is a very accurate description of the pain and longing that is so keenly felt.

What can be hard to understand here is that it says ‘the Lord had closed her womb’. We are clearly being told that God has a purpose in this pain, although often when we read a passage like this all we can empathise with is the torment. Why would He do that? And why was Hannah so resolute in her actions?

This was a time when Israel had been taken over by the Philistines, and most of the people had turned their backs on God. Hannah’s husband was one of the few that still made the trip to sacrifice at the tabernacle. While there, Hannah would pour out her soul to God, learning to cling to Him through her sorrow and plead her cause to Him. She had no idea that the son God would provide would be the one to lead the Israelites to victory against the Philistines.

For prayer and reflection: Do you have any unfulfilled hopes and dreams that you are struggling with today? Take them to God again and ask Him to help you endure with patient faith as you wait.

Moulded by the maker

Reflections based on Romans 5:1–5.

We need to be honest – there are times when we all struggle, when thoughts about hope are simply beyond us because we are totally overwhelmed and frustrated by our circumstances. God knows that, and shows us great mercy in our struggles. But He also works through our testing times, our waiting times, the times when we are forced to give up on things we thought we were supposed to be doing, are suffering physically or are being treated unfairly by someone around us.

Some of the things we find ourselves up against are a result of human sin – of those around us or perhaps ourselves – but, whatever the reason, God can use it all to mould our character. As this Romans passage says, we can ‘boast in the hope of the glory of God’ – but also ‘glory in our sufferings’ because they produce in us a harvest of perseverance, character and, eventually, hope.

Knowing that God is doing something through the hard times, moulding us to be more like Jesus, can help us to understand why He doesn’t always deliver us from them. Rather than just praying for an end to the troubles, have you ever tried asking God what He is trying to teach you, or change in you, during a really testing time?

Mick Brooks, in his book Faith, Hope, Love and everything inbetween (CWR), says: ‘Even though we sometimes don’t realise it, don’t feel like it’s true and even, at times, don’t want it, God is committed to finishing what He has started. He takes imperfect people and works constantly to transform us, using everything we go through as the tools of His trade.’ (p17)

In my own life, it is certainly true that I can look back and see how God has changed me through the struggles — although I couldn’t see it at the time.

For prayer and reflection: Thank You Lord that You have a heavenly, eternal perspective. So often I want to be released from particular difficulties and yet You allow them because they mould me. 

Learning to remember

Reflections based on Exodus 15:1–18 and 16:2–3.

Our reading for today shows us how quickly we humans forget! God had miraculously delivered the Israelites from their oppressors, the Egyptians, by opening the Red Sea for them to cross safely, then closing it over their pursuers. Immediately afterwards they burst into a spontaneous song of thanks. Yet, by the next chapter they are longing to be back in Egypt because the going is tough! They’ve forgotten what they experienced there, and aren’t trusting that God will provide all their needs while they are in the desert. Did they truly think God would do such an amazing miracle to ensure their freedom, then leave them to starve in the desert? But, by focusing on their immediate needs, that was exactly what they were believing.

While we may judge the Israelites for their lack of trust, we, too, can quickly forget God’s goodness. By focusing on difficult circumstances we can get blinkered, and unable to see God’s perspective on the situation. But by remembering the good things He has done we can feed our souls with truths that build our faith back up and help us to believe that, while we may not get instant relief from our problems, God still has our backs.

One important way to remember is to delve into Scripture to see how God has been faithful to His people throughout time. Indeed, Romans 15:4 says that ‘everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.’ One of the purposes of the Bible is to feed us with knowledge of God, providing us with an assurance of His overall perfect plan.

For prayer and reflection: Thank you Lord for the Bible, and for all the wonderful stories of your faithfulness that it contains. Help me not to be as forgetful as the Israelites were.

An anchor for our souls

Photo by Manuel Keusch from Pexels

After a break over the summer (during which we had an incredible time in the Philippines – I’m sure I’ll be sharing about that sometime!), we are back with our next reflection on hope.

Reflections based on Hebrews 6:13–20.

While it begins by referring to the oath that God made with Abraham back in the Old Testament, I have chosen to concentrate on this passage from Hebrews because of verse 19. It is God’s nature that is unchangeable – as are His promises. So even while we are going through really tough times we can rest assured that His purposes will come to pass. It is that secure knowledge of our future hope that can anchor our lives even when all around us is a raging storm. In fact, the anchor on a boat isn’t really needed in calm seas – how often do we forget about ours when things are going well?

The curtain that is referred to in verse 19 was found across the entrance to the Most Holy Place in the temple. In Old Testament times, it was a place the priest could only enter once a year to atone for the sins of the people. But Jesus’ sacrifice for us means we have constant access to God now, and can draw close to Him during the good and bad times. That knowledge is, again, I believe a firm anchor for our souls. We can spend time dwelling on the fact that we are accepted by God, loved unconditionally and saved for eternity. Hebrews 10 includes a similar message to our reading, going on to say ‘let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings… Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.’ (vv.22–3)

I think there are times when we have to make a conscious effort to hold onto that anchor. One way we can do this is by reflecting on God’s faithful nature. Why not take some time out today to do so?

For prayer and reflection: Have you ever kept a prayer journal? You can record prayer requests, and answered prayers. If you already have one, take a look back and thank God for His faithfulness to you.

Jesus’ prayer for us

Reflections based on John 17:20–25.

Just before He was betrayed by Judas, Jesus spent some time praying for himself, for his disciples but also for future believers – that’s us! In that prayer, our reading today, He prayed that we would be one ‘so that the world may believe’ (v21). His prayer echoes what the previous devotion discussed – about God’s plan being focused on us, that we would share the hope we have found through the way we live and speak.

The Great Commission, some of Jesus’ final words to His disciples, again encourages us to get out and share the Good News: ‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’ (Matthew 28:19–20)

Peter, in his first letter, encourages us to ‘always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.’ (1 Peter 3:15)

I think we can clearly see that we have a responsibility to share our hope with those around us – through the way we live and the words we speak.

If what you’ve read today fills you with dread and condemnation rather than joy, please don’t allow it to settle on you. I am not a natural evangelist, and also experience feelings of inadequacy. But even if you are struggling with the most difficult of situations, it can be through those testing times that we reveal the faith we have in our God to those closest to us. It is about learning to cling to that hope when all around us looks hopeless – which we will start looking at more closely next time…

For prayer and reflection: Jesus You prayed that we would be one so that the world would believe. Help me to realise that in You I have everything I need – to live in unity with others and to be a good witness.

God has put his hope in us

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán from Pexels

Reflections based on Ephesians 2:10–22.

This passage builds on what we were learning last time – that God’s hope is for everyone and that that hope is revealed through the Church.

Ever since I became a Christian in childhood I have been taught that we, God’s people, are God’s plan A for reaching the world, and that He has no plan B! Indeed, the phrase ‘The local church is the hope of the world’ is used a lot by preachers and teachers. It is so true that, as long as the Church is working as it should, it reveals a real depth and beauty – because it has the fragrance of Christ.

Our passage talks about us being part of a much bigger thing; a building God has fashioned for Himself. The apostles and prophets were the foundation, Jesus the chief cornerstone and all of us join together to be the holy temple in which God lives. Wow. It is no longer about ecclesiastical buildings but simply through the way we live that we reveal to the world that each one of us can have His Spirit dwelling inside of us.

While pondering this passage, I came across the following quote from C.S. Lewis: ‘The church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply, a waste of time.’ There is certainly plenty of food for thought contained in there!

For prayer and reflection: Spend some time thanking God in your own words that He has chosen the Church to be His vehicle to reveal Himself to the world.

Hope through the seasons of life

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

Made alive!

Reflections based on Ephesians 2:1–10.

If, like me, you have been a Christian a long time, you can begin to forget what it is you have been saved from – what this glorious hope has actually done for you even while you are still on this earth.

I think it is important, at times, to think about where we could have been without Christ. A look around our society today should make this easier! In just my lifetime so much more crime, depravity, idolatry, greed, poverty etc has sprung up and, but for the grace of God, we could be involved in it ourselves. We could be part of the ‘I’ generation in which anything goes as long as it feels right for ourselves. (And, unfortunately, we can sometimes get sucked into the same kind of thinking.)

While there might seem to be freedom in doing whatever we want it just leads to death – and we can see that all around us too. But thank God, because of His great love, He saved us from that and brought us into a richness of life that no one without Him can fully comprehend (and we will spend eternity discovering more about ourselves).

Remember: our salvation is a gift of grace from our incredible heavenly Father. We are alive in Christ and that beats anything this world can offer!

Optional further reading: Psalm 130:5–8, Romans 15:7–13.

Hope within the body of Christ

Reflections based on Ephesians 4:1–16.

‘There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called’ (v.4)

I find this reminder of our one hope really interesting – and encouraging. It comes under a subheading ‘Unity and maturity in the body of Christ’ and here we are urged to live lives ‘worthy of the calling’ and are given a wonderful picture of how the body of Christ should work. Supporting one another, building each other up and each playing the part that God gave specifically to us…

Paul is obviously very aware of how differences between people can niggle and eventually erode the unity of the Church, so he begins by reminding us that there is only one body, and one Spirit – just as there is but one hope.

As we looked at last week, that hope is open to everyone who chooses to believe. That means our churches are going to be full of people that are very different to us! How do we learn not to just live with them, but appreciate those who may have different viewpoints and giftings to us? Well I think ensuring we keep the ‘main thing the main thing’, as a speaker I heard once said, is a pretty important part of that.

If we keep our focus on the fact that we, totally undeserving sinners, were offered unmerited favour by our God, through Jesus Christ, then we can look at others through the eyes of humility and love. But also with a heart of celebration – God has given each one of us this hope! And exuding that future hope, no matter what our circumstances (and possibly personal differences), is something that only the Church can do.

Let’s ‘grow up’, shape up and show the world that we certainly do have something that unites us all!

For prayer and reflection: Thank you God that you love me – but that you also love the people I find most difficult in church. Help us to learn to celebrate that each of us is different.