The Irony of Hope

Jesus really meant it when he said that you must lose your life in order to find it.  To those who might not be familiar with Jesus and the way of spiritual truth, these type of statements are hard to understand.  In fact, I believe one can only really begin to understand them when they begin to live them.

How is it possible to navigate life when you are being asked to give it up?  How does one know how to move forward?  So much of our lives are lived out in the daily ebb and flow of the routine that we are so used to, that we often are subtly moved to places where we take our eyes off of Jesus.  If we do this long enough we learn habits and our expectations begin to be shaped by our experiences and circumstances.  Sometimes our thinking and our feeling is so influenced by this way of living that we begin to see God through our circumstances and experiences.  By that I mean that we begin to understand God through our own understanding instead of hearing from him about who he really is and what he wants from and for us.

When we get to that place it becomes difficult for us to understand that Jesus asks of us everything in our lives--he wants us to die to ourselves and become new creations in him.  Not easy, but as our loving God, he knows exactly what is best for us and he never stops asking us for our trust.

When we begin to take seriously that Jesus wants us to give every part of our lives, that he would become the director, manager, and captain of our decisions and our free time and our finance and our work and our relationships and our families etc., etc., etc., we face the weight of the irony of what he wants of us.

To die is to live.

Death always hurts.  Don't forget that, and don't minimize this fact when someone you know is going through a death, whether it's physical or spiritual they both hurt like crazy.  In the midst of the hurt, we can fall victim to thoughts about God that aren't true of him.  For example we can struggle with our understanding of God as one who loves us and who really does want the best for us.  When we are hurting, the thing we most want is to get rid of the hurt, and we can lose sight of the bigger picture that God wants us to see clearly.  That picture shows us that God wants us to die in order for us to live in the light of his truth, his way and his life.

So if you are in the midst of dying, in any way shape or form, then hear this:  (Luke 11:11-13) "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?  Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

The Holy Spirit is the greatest gift that Jesus could give his children.  He is the presence of Jesus within us; He is the Power of God at work in us; He is our Comforter and Guide into all truth.  There is nothing that can't be accomplished when we trust in His power and love.

And this is the good gift from our Heavenly Father through Jesus to us!

Family and friends, there is hope for you as you go through the most honorable and noble tasks of dying for the sake of Jesus Christ.  Though you might feel that there is nothing good that can come from it, that it just hurts so very bad, don't despair because the irony of losing your life for Jesus sake is that new and better life is taking root in you.  You might not be able to see it just yet, but God reminds us that he is a good God who loves you deeply and wants to give you good gifts.

Father, bless those who are in the midst of dying today.  Help them to know that dying to self in order to live for you is worth it and that you are pleased and that you are close to them today.  Holy Spirit, comfort them with your love and power and give them the courage and strength needed to stay the course so that you may complete a good work in them.

And don't ever, ever forget that you are loved.

BT