Category: Hope

Letters whose topic focuses on Hope

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God’s Good “No” Answers

Dear Sister,

I recently read we should thank the Lord in the midst of our sufferings, in fact for our sufferings. That act draws us closer to Him and helps us through our dark times. In one of my all-time favorite books, The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom and her sister do exactly that as they travel roads of unspeakable horror, yet find themselves blessed by God over and over again. My husband and I have also found God’s grace in His “no” answers.

Sometimes, though.

Oh, there are times that my spirit simply cries and hangs on for dear life. I cherish the verses in Romans, “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Rom. 8:26-27) No formula, just remain in Him. He pleads for us. With His Father, with God. For us. There couldn’t be a better advocate, no one who understands me better.

How blessed are we?

I had to laugh through tears as I looked up this passage. I know I’ve read the chapter untold times, but until tonight I did not realize that these verses of the Spirit interceding for us is sandwiched between, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Rom. 8:18) Unspeakable joy to come!

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28) Satan’s plans for evil are thwarted by our loving Lord and turned to good.

“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:35, 37-39) His assurance we are ever His beloved.

From crying out in desperation, too crushed to even formulate words in defense, to knowing with great surety our trials are not without a purpose, we are conquerors through Jesus—and not just that, but the best we can even dream of is merely a shadow of what is to come. Sweet sister, as you cry in your dark hours, cling to Him—He has great, beautiful plans for your tomorrows!

Running with you,

Rebecca

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Have Courage? How?

Dear sisters,

Two young Marines in Okinawa, Japan were driving in a car this weekend when a blown tire changed their lives forever. The car lost control and the Marines were both severely injured and rushed to the Naval hospital, where my surgeon friend quickly operated on their broken bodies. She was up tirelessly with them for most of the weekend attending to their many serious injuries. One of the Marines sustained a brain injury that put him in a coma with his life precariously hanging in the balance. My friend lovingly faced this young man’s parents and told them of his dire state. She was expecting wailing, tears, and anger, yet what she received was a smile spread across his mom’s face and told my friend that it was going to be OK because God was in control. Then the mom quickly went to praying over her comatose son instead of weeping and asking why.

Oh my sisters, what a courageous response to a seemingly hopeless situation! How could this mother look the death of her son in the eye, then raise those eyes to her heavenly Father in faith of His sovereign control of this heart-wrenching event? There was no fear. She believed and acted on the truth her heart knew despite what consequences might lay ahead. What a picture of courage.

The bible is full of examples of courageous men and women who believed, lived, acted, and stood for the truth despite the personal consequences they might face: Abraham leaving his homeland, Moses’s exodus out of Egypt, Daniel not following the diet of his foreign captors, the prostitute hiding Joshua and the spies, Ruth staying with Naomi, Esther facing the tyrant King Ahasuerus, all the prophets, John the Baptist telling Herod he was sinning, and so many more! Yet the ultimate example of having courage in hopeless times is our Savior Jesus, who sweated blood in agony over the events to come that night, yet still he obeyed His Father, which cost Him His life and ultimately gave us ours. He rose again, defeating death and giving us the foundation of our faith. Our sins are forgiven when we trust in Christ. This life’s crushing fear is courageously washed away by the hope of the gospel!

But how does that work in my own life? I can look to this sweet mom as an example of courage for today. She showed courage during her seemingly hopeless time by not choosing fear, which is the opposite of courage. She chose to believe, live, act, and stand for the truth despite the personal consequences she might face: the death of her son.

Oh sister, learn the truth of the Word! Ground yourself in the knowledge of what you have in Christ. Learn the characteristics of God that never change. Let this knowledge lead you to courageously act when what you fear the most comes. Stand up for what you believe when others mock. Walk away when others are toeing the line of sin. Having courage in seemingly hopeless times is hard work, yet the Spirit will be there to give you what you don’t have on your own.

Oh Lord! Help us to be strong and courageous and not tremble and be dismayed as we live a life of your Truth.

Your sister in Christ,

Colleen

 

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Kicking and Submitting

Dearest Sister,

Did you ever think about the beauty of arranged marriages? Well, in theory, beautiful. Ponder this: Assurance of marriage, no dating frustrations, little chance of endless break-ups and loneliness and heartaches typical of the “going together” scene. Yes, he might not be your dream man, but a good mother and father know what is in your best interest, right?

Maybe you are in a time of despair about such things–or despair about whatever it is in your life in this span of time. Dating, not dating, miserable dating. Marriage, no marriage, divorce. Children, no children, rebellious children. Loss of health. Separation. Impending death of a loved one. Death. Missing. Loneliness. Most of us have experienced some of these, some have known them all. Some of us are clinging desperately to our God, others are unsure, finding it hard to trust, even bitter.

No chastening or trials are pleasant. If we could only reckon the truth of God’s Word to actually be true. These things are for our good. They yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness in our lives if we submit to the training.

I’m a slow learner in the things of Christ…my tendency is to impatience.
I want things to happen now, in my timing, according to my educated plans. Marriage at twenty one, house with wrap-around porch, sea breezes blowing gently on my face as I watch my four children, two boys, two girls, playing in the sand a few hundred feet from that porch. A happily-ever-after marriage, some nice vacations involving travel to exotic destinations, and a body free of disease would be nice too. However, my plans rarely materialize and the visual above is merely a lovely dream of my youth. But, dear sister, in hindsight, the training in righteousness has been so much better.

Indulge me while I tell you of my first big lesson in true submission to our Christ. It is the story of idolatry, the crashing of the idol, and the place of eventual blessing. Perhaps you will be encouraged as you see yourself, in a different situation, but the same God of patience and love and gentleness.

We met, Jim and I, dated, “fell in love” (albeit a mostly selfish love), and grew stagnant, with no real commitment. Months grew into years, seven years, to be exact and then God saved our souls and transformed our lives. It was a marvelous thing to behold as we thirstily learned of Him and His ways for our lives, as we learned to walk in childlike obedience. Two more years passed. I was desperate for marriage, he was not. I blamed him, he blamed no one. Then came the ultimatums, the pressures, the guilt trips. The breakup inevitably came. The wrenching heartache of loss was felt by both, but God was working His relentless work in our hearts. I was brought to my knees in repentance over many things, including the idolatry of wanting this man more than I wanted submission to the very real possibility that God did not want me to be married to this man, perhaps not to be married at all. In His grace and hard mercy at the time, I gave all my desires, all my desperation, all my dreams to Christ, trusting (as my pastor says) in His Face (Who He is), not His hands (what He can give me). The sadness and loss did not leave, but there was a release I had not known. I was no longer bound to a dream idol, an idol of earthly fulfillment, an idol of personal happiness. I was a woman of metaphorical unclean lips who had now known the hot coals upon my mouth in cleansing, and my heart was ready for a “Here am I, send me for whatever He purposed” moment. (Isaiah 6).

I’m reminded of dear old Abraham. His longing for the son of promise, the fruition of the promise, the seeming wrenching away of that boy. A.W. Tozer says it so poignantly: “God let the suffering old man go through with it up to the point where He knew there would be no retreat, and then forbade him to lay a hand on the boy. To the wondering patriarch He now says in effect, ‘It’s all right, Abraham. I never intended that you should actually slay the lad. I only wanted to remove him from the temple of your heart that I might reign unchallenged there…’

I’ve had other lessons in submission along the way, but like first love, this first lesson is most memorable. It made the next lessons a bit easier because of God’s faithfulness in the first. Never easy, always good, because God is always good.

No, God does not always give us what we think we want, but when we submit, He gives us Himself. He is our very great reward, not to be traded for any earthly passion. And sometimes, not always…but sometimes, He says, ‘I wanted to give him to you all along, but first I wanted your heart.’

And there you have it. That is how I eventually became Mrs. Jim Finamore.

Sister, give Him all of you. Surrender wholeheartedly. Be content with or without the desire. Be satisfied with Christ.

Submitting together to Him,
Cherry

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Spirit-led Self-Control

Dear sisters,

We have recently adopted one-year-old, boy/girl twins from Ethiopia. The Lord gifted them to us on Thanksgiving Day and we brought them home to Okinawa just before Christmas. The next month we began the process of moving from Okinawa to Puerto Rico, our next duty station. This means that, while we are starting to create a new home for our babies, we’re also packing away the only home our biological daughter has ever known and saying goodbye to the friends who have supported us through many difficult periods in our lives. To say our marriage has been tested is too simple. To say the relationships with all of our kids have been strained at times is understated. And to say that our bodies have revolted against the stress is too modest. There are days when my husband and I say our kids hate us and other days when we don’t even like each other. Though these days have the hope of excitement and joy, often they also have a lining of darkness where we forget to tell ourselves the facts of our faith and instead live in the rawness of our explosive emotions. It is easier for me to sink into the darkness of my soul, than to control my thoughts and actions under the truth of the gospel. Lets face it, sometimes we long for the indulgence of a good pity party rather than capturing our thoughts with the help of the Spirit to give us hope through the dark times.

If you’re thinking, “I don’t even know what that would look like?” believe me, I understand. It’s a lot easier for me to tell you what it looks like when I don’t use self-control and selflessness that is fueled by the Spirit. I get overwhelmed with kids crying and whining and instead of taking a step back, breathing, and reminding myself of their age and stage, I scream back at them. Instead of hearing my husband out as he makes a simple suggestion, I cut him off and let my face fall while telling him why his suggestion won’t work. I dwell on what is wrong, bad, or difficult in my life instead of telling myself the character and promises of God that have been given to me in Christ.

But I’ve also been given hope through glimpses of Spirit-led self-control in dark times. What does that look like? It’s taking thoughts captive in dark times through self-control and selflessness. It’s way easier to spiral down into a “woe is me” attitude than to control my thoughts and captivate them with Christ. If I do take the time to have self-control, I can train my heart and soul to remember that God is sovereign and in control of all things. Sadly, it’s often easier for me to think that no one understands my situation than to remember that I have a Savior who understands all pains and hurts because He has been there too.

So in the dark and tumultuous times of flux, change, and unknown, I need to find my hope by controlling my thoughts and actions. To step away from emotional screams of the moment and remind myself of the truth of my good, sovereign, and kind God that works for my good. I can have patience because the Father has infinite patience with me. I can show kindness when its not deserved because Christ did that for me. I can give underserved grace because I have been given immeasurable grace in Christ. I have been adopted in Christ. I have the inheritance of heaven. I am forgiven as far as the east is from the west. All these truths are what I need to stop and choose to remember. This takes Spirit given self-control. Yes, it’s work. Yes, I fail at doing this myself. Oh Lord, help us to grow in this each day.

Your sister in Christ,
Colleen

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Hope in Failing

The Garden of Eden, (a.k.a.Paradise). No weeds. No decay, and none of those prickly sticker things. Can you imagine it? Can you picture Adam and Eve living in the garden in perfect harmony with each other and intimate communion with God? It must have been absolutely glorious. But it didn’t last, did it?

Genesis 3:1 says “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.” He approached Eve with the question “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden in the garden’?” Eve knew the word of the Lord. She knew that He had commanded her and Adam not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And why should they have needed to? The Lord had abundantly provided for their needs in all the other trees and plants that he had created. But the serpent was perceptive. Already Eve had added to the command of the Lord. Her mind was ripe for deception. With great cunning, he got Eve to believe that God was holding out on her for seemingly no reason. So when Eve “saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.”

Do you think that if Eve had known that taking that bite would shatter their literally perfect life, she would have done it? Do you think that she would have knowingly brought suffering, death, and destruction into her life? Of course not! But Eve was naive. Eve was unsuspecting. How could she have possibly known about such a thing as deception?

Sadly, the true story is that even though she wanted for nothing her heart went after the one thing she was forbidden to have. As a result, she plunged her world, and ours, into sin and darkness.

Perhaps you, like me, have had your own “Eve” moment. Maybe God presented you with something good but you couldn’t receive it because you were too busy looking elsewhere for your satisfaction. Perhaps Satan even approached you and said, “God wants to give you this, but what you really need is this and I can give you what you really need.” The end result of believing the lies of Satan is absolutely devastating. He promises life but all you will get is death. I can tell you that, dear sister, because I have experienced it firsthand. I have been deceived by his craftiness only to find myself drowning in a sea of sorrow, guilt, and regret.

When I realized that this had happened to me, and what I had done as a result, I was devastated. I had never experienced such raw emotions. Rage coursed through my veins. Sorrow and regret overcame me. Feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness nearly killed me. Thoughts such as “You idiot, Kayla. What is wrong with you?” plagued me. Yet, I am still here. I made it. I came out of it alive. Bruised, beaten, and bloodied, but alive. How? Where’s the hope after such utter desolation?

In Eve’s situation, we see that God dealt graciously with her. She kept her place as Adam’s wife and she still became the mother of all living things. God even promised that her Savior would come from her seed. Even amidst her brokenness, God blessed her.

This failure in my life was my “Damascus” moment. I, like Paul, was a Pharisee. I went to countless Bible studies, church every Sunday, and abstained from sex and alcohol. But my heart was a whitewashed sepulcher, laced with envy and discontent, and ruled by fear. It took brokenness for me to truly understand the gospel and my need of it, but the Lord has still dealt graciously with me. As severe as his mercy may seem right now, I am trying to have faith that he is working it all for my good and His glory. It’s hard walking in the uncertainty, but that is what faith is all about—being sure of what is hoped for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1).

Recently, we remembered the death of Christ and celebrated his resurrection. This is where our hope must lie, dear sister. We must turn our eyes to the cross in faith, acknowledging that all of our sins—and our old selves—have been nailed to the cross with him. In his resurrection, Christ has conquered sin and death and they no longer have dominion over us. This doesn’t mean that we won’t ever stumble, but it does mean that we are no longer ruled by it. Take hope in that, my dear sister. His is the hope and the promise that will never disappoint.

Walking with you,

Kayla