March 23, 2020
Good morning friends. I want to start this by saying that I am praying for you and your family in this time. The prayer that has been been put on my heart during the past couple of weeks has been one of continual pleading for a blanket of peace and healing on our world. That blanket covers you and your family, so I hope you know that you have me and thousands around you praying and pleading to God for purpose in these times. I am actively believing in the power of prayer today; God even bases promises off of our prayer: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Secondly, I want to let you know that these words coming off my keyboard are prayer-filled words. They are not mine and cannot be mine because to be honest, I feel unable to fully wrap my brain around these crazy, unprecedented times. I cannot even write these words without tears in my eyes at just the privilege it is to be able to write in a time like this, to share what I am learning and how I am leaning into Jesus right now. If Jesus has taught me anything in the past year, it is the preciousness of his presence, a preciousness that is so intensely magnified during times of darkness and doubt. In the past year, the Lord has revealed Himself more to me in ways I did not want, but for which, I am now most grateful.
Therefore, in today’s time, I find myself clinging to Him even more, not even by my own effort most of the time but by instinct because “He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold” and because He is “near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth” (Psalm 62:2, Psalm 145:18). The news does not offer stability; each source will yell something different at you, feeding the hysteria the world will try to feed you. Yourself and your own might will not offer your long-term stability. I have experienced the short-term stability it does offer, and firsthand, I have learned it is only empty promises and half-filled satisfaction. Society does not offer true stability; it is only a reflection of the chaos the world is experiencing. Therefore, when uncertainty arises, when doubt creeps in, where are you running? Where are you finding stability, true lasting stability?
Fortunately, with the increase in physical distance, we have all experienced the beauty of closer emotional connection, through the true gift that technology has been in recent days. Through this technology, I have found a plethora of resources to lean into to be filled with the true Source. Also, with this extra time, this pause, a morning routine has become a bit more accessible to me. Here are a few things I have begun starting my day with that ground and support me before I open my eyes or ears to anything the world tries to tell/show me: Ben Stuart’s daily videos walking through Thessalonians on Passion D.C.’s instagram, a few minutes of journalling my prayers including explicitly naming something I am trusting God for that day, and reading Kent Hughes’ book Romans: Righteousness from Heaven. I cannot recommend this book enough. I have been walking through it with a couple different groups from August to now, and reading it has been a sacred time for me in the past few days as I learn more about the character of God every time I pick it up. If you are looking for a book of the Bible currently, Romans is foundational, and personally, it has offered a grounding in faith like I had never experienced. I believe it has the power to do the same for you.
When reading the book yesterday, something clicked as these words just jumped off of the page: “For in this hope [in our adoption and redemption as sons and daughters], we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8: 24-25). I often want to believe in what I can firmly see and and then… call that hope. I did not even realize I was doing this until these words convicted me. How often have I trusted in myself and called that hope because it was what I thought I could firmly grasp? How often have I missed opportunities to lean into and hope in God’s will because I have been preoccupied with placing my hope in worldly yet visible things? Fully grasping the beauty of this unseen but glorious hope of Jesus Christ has the power to give life-fulfilling stability in our current time of uncertainty. We have a lost of unrest in our world today for a time that could be a divine rest in Jesus’s promises.
Why those 2 verses stuck out to me and why I want to share them is simple: when crisis occurs, we cling to whatever we can that offers a semblance of security. However, what this verse tells me and you is that we have an opportunity today, and in this season, to find and rest in a God-purposed hope. We do not have to have all of the answers to find peace in this hope; in fact, we can have hope precisely because we do not have all the answers. Hope in answers that we conjure is not true hope; it is only dependency on ourselves. However, hope in God’s promises and purposes, with answers we cannot fathom, is true hope that fulfills the hole in our heart that we are looking to fill. That is the powerful beauty that this verse promises. What a comfort it is to know that we do not have to have the answers. If that is a burden you are loading on your shoulders today, I pray you throw that burden off. I have to do the same.
In this same chapter of Romans, it is declared that “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). Hughes’ book sets up the vital context for this verse. When we understand the author, Paul, of Romans, we can then truly understand the magnitude of this verse. Paul was whipped to the brink of death, imprisoned, and persecuted for his relentless pursuit of sharing the Gospel, so for a man such as him, a man who has experienced true agony, to be be able to shout the goodness of God amongst times of severe trial attests to the all-encompassing truth of this verse. Therefore, how are we seeking and shouting the goodness of God and His promises in this season?
If our suffering now cannot even compare (think about that alone for one second- that it cannot even compare in the palest way) to the glory coming for us in our adoption as sons and daughters, it is imperative that we humble ourselves and pray in a way that is representative of this truth. It is imperative that we seek a perspective on this situation through the lens of Jesus Christ and His purpose. While this may be hard at first, if we can shift our perspective to one like this, we will see our situation different that the fearful and chaotic way to which the world tempts us. We can look to the goodness in it, the proliferation of house churches, the strengthening of family ties, and spread of the message of hope because we do not have the answers, as evidence of God’s purpose and power over our uncertainty and hurt. Therefore, I am thankful today for the preciousness of God’s presence in this time. I am thankful for the preciousness of His purpose in this, whatever it may be. I am thankful for the preciousness of prayer in this, prayer that God truly hears. Most of all, I am thankful for the preciousness of hope in this, knowing that we can cling to God’s power over our doubt and fear. As always, I am here and would love to process through any of this together. Especially now, we need each other, but most, we need Jesus.
With love,
C