Hope Unswervingly

Read Isaiah 30:18 Our loving God has demonstrated His own patience in waiting. How can we do less? Isaiah 30:18 says “Therefore the Lord is waiting to show you mercy, and is rising up to show you compassion, for the Lord is a just God.” “Just" means fair – imposing sentence when needed. We sometimes lose sight of this quality of God, overemphasizing His love to the point of distortion. I’ve heard people wonder why a loving God wouldn’t just allow everyone into heaven, or allow only good things to happen. To even begin to understand, we must go back to the illustration of the parent and child. Does a loving parent never impose discipline or punishment? Does she always protect her child from the consequences of her choices? We have all seen the results when love is not balanced with fair discipline of children. This gives us just a little hint of the reason we must acknowledge both God’s love and His justice. Both are essential parts of God’s character and cannot be ignored. Isa...

Read Proverbs 16:9 Why does waiting seem to be so hard for us? We tend to see waiting as an idle or pointless delay in our plans, hopes and dreams. But what if there is purpose to it? What if I can be active in my waiting? How would that change my perspective, my attitude, and indeed, my life? From the start of life we are impatient, and some of us never “outgrow” it! The toddler whines to get the toy he wants right now. The teenager gets upset at the phone when the video is slow to download. The adult goes into debt so that she doesn’t have to wait for that wonderful fill-in-the-blank that will make life so much better. Each of these is a symptom of impatience, and a sign that we have not learned God’s lesson that waiting is an essential part of our Christian development. Without it, we become a world of Veruca Salts of Willy Wonka fame, going around pointing at all of our wants and desires and screaming out, “I want it now, Daddy!” As I look back on my prayers in my earlier fa...

Read Isaiah 30:18 When a child asks his parent for candy at 5:00 o’clock, the answer will typically be something like, “You may have one after supper.” The child may whine and complain that he wants it right now, that he’s hungry, or that the candy will not spoil his appetite. But parents with their child’s best interest in mind will say, “No, you have to wait.” Why do they do that? It’s because they know that good nutrition must come first before sweets for their child to be healthy. They know it is better to teach their child to wait than to give in to his demands at every turn. Parents know that there are things for which a child must learn to wait because it will be better and more beneficial later than it is right now. God is the ultimate Parent. He knows this principle better than any of us, and He uses it in our lives to teach and discipline us as well. Remember that His plan always comes out of His goodness and grace. A parent saying “no” or “wait” does not mean he does not...

Daniel 10:15-19 When he was visited by the messenger of the Lord, Daniel was physically and emotionally overwhelmed. He describes himself as speechless, anguished, and powerless. Breathless. Daniel asks this powerful question that continues to echo in my mind. “How can someone like me, your servant, speak with someone like you, my lord?” Indeed, how can someone like me approach Almighty God and speak with Him? To be in His presence would leave me speechless in awe, anguished in my sin, and powerless to do anything for myself. How grateful I am that God does His best work when we are in this state of weakness! When we humble ourselves at the feet of Jesus, acknowledging our sins and weaknesses, that is precisely when Jesus will reach down, take our hand, and respond in the way the messenger did to Daniel. “Don’t be afraid, you who are treasured by God. Peace to you; be very strong.” Fear flees and strength grows. With the burden of our sins removed and the assurance of God’s...

Read Daniel 10:12-13 It is impossible to address the topic of waiting without speaking of impatience. When I say a prayer, most of the time my preference would be to have it answered right away rather than endure any amount of waiting. The message in Daniel 10:12-13 clarifies for us that sometimes the reason we must wait is for the spiritual battle to be fought. “From the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your prayers were heard. I have come because of your prayers. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for 21 days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me after I had been left there with the kings of Persia.” This passage is a bit confusing to understand. The New Living Translation uses the terms “spirit prince” and “archangel” for “prince” and “chief prince.” This helps us see the spiritual aspect of what is being discussed here. Here is a helpful explanation from the HCSB Study Bible: “The Persian...

Continuing with Daniel 10, especially verse 12 The messenger from God about being treasured helped Daniel to stand, but he was still trembling. Daniel hears the reassuring words we all need to hear every day, “Don’t be afraid.” Virtually every time an angel comes to speak to someone in the Bible, he begins with “fear not” or “be not afraid.” Seeing a being sent by God is not an ordinary experience and would likely cause a bit of fear, simply due to awe and wonder, if nothing else. But God does not come to us to cause us to fear. He comes to us to express what we need to hear – words of encouragement, direction, correction, comfort. We need to get past the fear to really hear what God wants to say to us. If we are afraid to ask God to speak to us, what’s behind that? Are we afraid of what He might ask us to do? What we might have to give up? What He might show us about our inner hearts? If fear is our reaction, we must go back and reread the section before this and remind ourselv...

Continuing in Daniel 10 When Daniel begins to hear from Go d’s messenger, the words that first come to his ears are, “Daniel, you are a man treasured by God.” What a blessing it must have been to hear those words directly. Before you start saying “that has never happened to me,” consider the scriptures. Throughout the Biblical narrative we find God’s message that He loves and treasures each one of His creation. Some of us struggle to believe that based on our earthly experience that may not have included unconditional love or any kind of recognition of our value as a human being created by God. However, God’s biblical message to you is clear. He loves you. He treasures you. He took great care in making your unique person. He has a plan for your life designed just for you. Before we hear God speak to us, it is important to hear God’s words of love for us. That is foundational to everything else He will say – even the hard stuff. Everything He does and says comes out of His great l...