Yesterday morning I awoke with the word “hope” on my heart. This is somewhat unusual for me, especially around the Christmas season. Christmas hasn’t been joyful for me since my first marriage ended in 1991. Though most of that year and the following two are a blur now, the pain associated with this season has remained through my second divorce, nearly 8 years ago this next spring.
But the Lord is faithful, reminding me in curiously “synchronistic” ways; that I’m going to attempt to explain. The following has happened to me several times this year, which reminds me just how uniquely interested Jesus is in each one of us:
As is often the case, I only remember portions of a certain scripture, and the one that came to mind yesterday morning was the one that says something to the effect that hope has something to do with believing in things you can’t see yet. So I got out my concordance and checked out the word “hope,” found the scripture (Hebrews 11:1) and wrote several versions into my spiritual journal from the various Bibles I use to study scripture, which are:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (King James Version)
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (New American Standard Version)
“To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.” (The Catholic Study Bible, Today’s English Version)
“Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].” (Amplified Bible)
Then came the clincher: after recording these in my notebook, I picked up my devotional reading from “The One Year Chronological Bible: New Living Translation” and guess what the day’s passage is? You got it, Hebrews Chapters 11 & 12, the first verse of which is, “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.” (NLT)
How does He (Christ) do it? I was brought to tears as soon as I opened the page. Why?
Waking with a word from the Lord is one thing, but then after seeking the scriptures and doing a small study, to have Him show me how intimately involved in my life He desires to be, allowing me to see that He has His arm around my shoulder, hugging me closely, as we begin our day. For the first time in months I felt His presence, telling me, “It’s o.k. to let go of past seasons of anguish and change your focus to the celebration of My coming to earth as the Christ child.”
Once again the Lord reminds me:
- Don’t trust your own feelings when making important life decisions, but rely on My Word (or, as Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” (New King James Version)
- Likewise, He reminds me to not rely on merely my physical senses (especially my eyes), but to test the choices I make by searching His Word and see if the Holy Spirit confirms the direction (or paths) to take
- Finally, the words that jump out of the scripture in Hebrews (from the multiple translations) are: “faith,” “substance,” “assurance,” “hope,” “conviction,” and “confirmation.”
I don’t often comprehend how He sees, or know how He knows, as it says in Isaiah 55:, “My thoughts are completely different from yours, says the Lord. And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (New Living Translation)
Hope requires action. Hope is not merely a possession, but rather something we do to honor the Lord, to seek His thoughts and ways; aspiring to the heights He desires, to commune with Him as we allow Him to guide us through. Faith has substance for me this year. Jesus Christ is the hope for all mankind, if we only take the time to listen to His voice.
IHS,
Jay
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