God Is Our Hope!
GOD IS OUR HOPE
Politics! Everywhere I turn— POLITICS!
We are in another election cycle, so of course there is non-stop discussion about candidates. And then there is all the scary and contradictory information about the global virus. Now there is violent social upheaval all over the country about politicians’ favorite divisive topic, race. Add to those things the many theories publicly bandied about surroundings specific people, events, coincidences, and mysteries, and you have enough media chatter to fill every waking hour— with a few disturbing dreams thrown in just for kicks (have you had one of those?).
As if there weren’t enough distractions in daily life already!
David, a king himself, reminds us not to trust in princes (senators? presidents? governors?), or in the sons of men, but only in God. I confess I find myself worrying about the state of affairs in our country and world, especially as it relates to my children and grandchildren. What kind of life will they have? What conditions will they have to learn to survive in? I worry about what they are taught in school, and that they don’t go to Sunday School. I worry about diseases they could catch that don’t even exist yet, and what sort of relationships will be valued in the future. I worry.
And then I remember what David said: Don’t trust in humankind. Why? Because we are temporal, we don’t last. And that’s a mercy because we are so clouded by sin in this life!
So what’s the solution? How do we escape this rumination on evil, this obsession with fear?
Or as Paul would say, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24)
Well, be of good cheer! We can be joyful! God is our Hope.
God created all that was created, and has every intention of taking really good care of His creation. Think about it. He left nothing to chance. Before Adam even had a chance to taste the forbidden fruit, our Father had already provided a way of redemption—Christ had already died on the cross.
Our Great Savior keeps Truth forever. Not just anybody’s truth, but The Truth. It is always there, a divine measuring stick by which we know what is and what is not True. Opinions don’t change it, wishing doesn’t change it. Gravity is true whether you like it or not. That’s how it is with Truth.
Christ the King executes justice for the oppressed. We are rightfully concerned—maybe even in a great rage— about oppression and abuse. Oppression of someone because of race or economic status. Oppression because of ideology, or helplessness. Many around us suffer greatly and many invisibly. Let us pray for them, love them, and allow Christ to bring justice.
God gives food to the hungry, often through us. We deliver meals, give rides to a food pantry, hand out coupons to local restaurants. God also gives us spiritual sustenance, like Jesus did for the woman at Jacob’s well. We are called to speak His words of life to all so that those with ears to hear may come to know Him and receive food and drink that will never perish.
Christ died for our freedom. He gives freedom to the prisoners, both physical and spiritual. Some are held in chains of depression or mental illness or spiritual possession. Some are held in jail unjustly. Some are there for just reasons and have come to repentance—another kind of freedom. If the Son makes us free, we are REALLY FREE!!
God opens the eyes of the blind by showing us things we cannot ignore. We can’t ignore pain—at least not our own. Better still, when the pain of others causes us pain, we can no longer ignore it. We can turn a blind eye to the horrors of the world, but always to our detriment. God can heal pain, but it has to been seen and felt first. Dear God, in the words of Bob Dylan, "How many times can a man look up before he sees the sky?"
Jesus raises those who are bowed down. We are bowed down when we are tired, weary, depressed, in pain, under the Enemy’s oppression. How many times in the gospels did Jesus say to someone “Rise up!”? The blind, the lame, the wounded, the dead… Let us rise up to meet Him.
God loves the righteous. But who is righteous? Those who are clothed in Christ’s garments. Those whose faith has made them well, who have had their sins forgiven. Those who have bowed their knee, not to an oppressor, but to the rightful King.
He watches over strangers. Scripture tells us that we are in this world but not of this world. We are all strangers in this world. We were designed to live forever in a perfect world, and we remember that even as we live in an imperfect, sinful world. It makes us feel like strangers here because we remember the image of God within us. Lord, help us all to find Your inner compass so we may return to You.
The Father relieves the fatherless and the widows. In truth, being fatherless and a widow is a temporal state, since God is our Father as we are His children, and Christ is our Husband as we are His Bride. Someday no one will need help. There will be no tears or sorrow. But in the meantime we are called to care for the helpless in His name.
God thwarts the ways of the wicked — turns them upside down. Yes and Amen! Come quickly, Lord Jesus! You have overcome the world. Overturn those who would take your place as the God and King.
SIN IS THE VIRUS.
I, for one, am glad that He reigns for ever. It just doesn’t make sense to put my hope for eternity in someone who will die or lose an election or make errors or cause me to fall. God is the one and only True Hope.
And He’s not a small hope—He is the Hope who makes everything work, conquers all sin, creates a new heaven and a new earth, and has promised to be with us forever—not just now, not just in the past or in the future, but all of time from the beginning to eternity.
That is Hope. That is who our God is.
Praise God forever.
Click on this link and sing with the words on the screen. May it bring you Peace and Hope.
PSALM 146 (NKJV)
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans perish.
5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever,
7 Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.
8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord raises those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and widow;
He thwarts way of the wicked.
10 The Lord shall reign forever—
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!
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