HOPE: Yes Lord!

"Stepping out upon the waves of faith, I will walk through fear and never sink!" (Yes, Lord written by: Aurora Marra 2013)

The Lord gave me these words through song last year as I was struggling to believe that God could actually be calling me to ministry full time.  Over this year, this one sentence has come in and out of my dialogue more than I can count.  Whether it was to encourage others, or just remind myself, I have found these words entirely powerful.

Faith is walking through fear, with our eyes fixed on Jesus, knowing that He will never let us sink.  

This morning as I was thinking about how God tells us to "expect the great, hold on to hope, put our hope in the glory of God, have confidence in His abilities and to persevere with hope in mind," God brought me to a couple scriptures that talk about just that.

Hebrews 10:

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." (verse 23)

"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised." (verses 35-36)

Such beautiful words written in such truth.  I have seen it happen in my life and of course have read story after story of this truth through the bible and even, at times, in the newspaper.

When we hope in God's power, God's ability, and God's wisdom, we can not and will not fail; for His power is unlimited, His ability is as vast as the universe and His wisdom is never ending!

Which brings me to faith in action.  Jesus' healing!

"He asked them, 'Do you believe that I am able to do this?' 'Yes, Lord,' they replied.  Then He touched their eyes and said, 'According to your faith will it be done for you'; and their sight was restored." (Matthew 9:28-30) 

Wow! "According to your faith it will be done for you!" Amazing!  Hold on to these words, for God also said,

"Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)

So, with faith even as small as a mustard seed, if we can look towards our Lord and say..."Yes, Lord. I believe", it will be done for us!

Thank you Lord!

So I encourage all of you, the next time God is asking you to step out upon the waves of faith:

Remember to say, "Yes, Lord!" and walk through fear, knowing, trusting, and believing that according to your faith it will be done!

Nothing is impossible for God's children who believe and put their hope in the Glory of God!

HOPE: God's Glory Revealed

"And we rejoice in the HOPE of the GLORY OF GOD. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that OUR SUFFERING PRODUCES perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, HOPE." (Romans 5: 2-4) emphasis added

So many of us have seen this scripture before.  But I believe that most of the time when we have read it, we tend to focus more on the part that states "we also rejoice in our sufferings....suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character;...."  

Isn't it funny how we can pass over some of the most important and empowering words God is trying to tell us in scripture, by simply reading them not for ourselves but as someone else tells us too?  And that because of this action we commonly miss out on what God may be trying to tell us in the same sentence of words? 

I will also say that a majority of the time we choose to view this particular scripture from a more pessimistic view.  Focusing on the development of perseverance and character, rather than rejoicing, hope and God's glory.  

Now, I am not by any means saying that perseverance and character are bad things.  On the contrary, they are wonderful characteristics of wisdom and should be highly valued.  BUT, sometimes we are punishing ourselves when we look at our suffering and say that "we must rejoice because God is teaching us perseverance and building our character." Now this statement IS true...but how you view it is a whole different story of truth.  

I am attempting to present, that maybe just maybe this scripture says much much more.  That the perseverance and character we are developing is not highlighted towards waiting and pushing through pain, or having a higher resistance towards worry and doubt.  But is highlighted towards HOPE! 

That to HOPE for the glory of God...is to persevere and build character.  

None of us live a problem free life.  We all encounter big and small hurtles of faith everyday.  But let me suggest that there would be no room for God's glory in our lives, if we lived a problem free life.

So if we are rejoicing the in the Glory of God; we are also rejoicing in our sufferings because our sufferings are visible producers of God's shining glory.  

The less we are able to fix our suffering on our own, the more visible God's power, ability and glory becomes.

So....

When we engage in our problems with great expectation not in what we can do, but in what God can do, it allows the problems in our lives to be a producer of glory for God!

Amazing right!?

So the next time you are facing struggles in life, I would like to encourage you to stop HOPING for perseverance and character, but instead to start HOPING for God's glory!  You will be amazed as His light begins to shine through your problems and I know you will also be blessed as you watch perseverance and character develop in your life BECAUSE of your HOPE IN THE GLORY OF GOD!

AMEN!