| Hope & Trust (I) Heb 11:1 "..faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." The bible tells us that "Christ died for us so that we can have life and have it more abundantly" & we like to assume this to be a promise of "good life on Earth". (Unfortunately, this is not the way God meant it to be.) Infact, many Christians are finding Christian living to be routine. For some of us, it is even dull. We could not quite experience that "good life" as we had expected. We ask : - Is spirituality (Christian living) really possible in this world of reality? - Isn't spirituality for Christian activities only & a different form of living from reality? And what is reality? I would say, it is about everything & about our everyday living. It is about people & the things they do and not do; tangible & otherwise, good & evil; the time/place & circumstances they are in - past, present & future. Reality is also the way things really are, the truth underlying appearances. It does not conform to our understanding or desires and cannot be denied, magnified, modified or suppressed. Eg : Nature & its law, Societies & their culture. Happy family or broken relationships. Disasters, crisis, successes, truths & lies... good & bad things..etc For us, Christians, sin is reality & so is our salvation in Christ Jesus. We have often heard from sermons & bible studies teaching us to live "IN Christ", "FOR Christ" & "THROUGH Christ", what are these telling us? It simply means we are to live reality with Christby faith, in trust & hope. Col 2:17 "... the reality, however, is found in Christ." Jesus said "Remain in Me & I will remain you... & you will bear much fruits". This is the abundant life which God promised. So try work it out with Jesus. When we are Christ-incharge, we will have what we need to know & to do in reality - fulfilling our roles & responsibilities the godly way! This is obedience & trust and giving God His glory! Despite knowing this, trusting God with things big or small, still is what we often find so difficult to do! Let's face it, it is easier to put our trust with friends and people around us. Why? Our biggest & most justifiable reason : We cannot see or hear God physically! God is Spirit & our faith & hope is intangible so it's difficult to trust God though much as we wish. (Such thinking is disobedience & doubting God is sin.) Our heavenly Father expects complete faith, love & hope from us - to have confident trust and absolute hope & choosing to believe in His Promises without any doubts, questions or the "see then believe attitude". "...But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Rom 8:24,25 Unfortunately, most of us do not trust the Hope of God we ought to like a child of God. Either we are half-hearted or we NATO (no actions talk only) despite knowing that it is detrimental for our spiritual growth. (We should seriously stop to ponder why). Anyway, let us look at some of the common "Difficult-To-Trust-God" situations (below). Maybe they can help us identify how often we did or did not trust in God. WHEN nothing seems to happen God does not seem to answer our prayers (demands) and we strongly feel so forsaken. We want things to happen our way and at our timing. We become impatient with God & take things into our hands instead of trusting God. WHEN seized by fear Our faith becomes weak when we are overly worried with the unknowns, new or unfamiliar situations. We not only have the fear of doing wrong (sin) but also not doing the good as well as having done the right thing! (We fear the consequences, what others might say...etc) Our lack of trust in God's guidance leads us into passive emotion (doubts, anxiety, wild imaginations.) and we succumb to the pressures of the harsh experiences. Fear works contrary to our faith; it stops us from trusting God. But trusting God overcomes fear. WHEN we sin Do not try to justify our sins or blame God for not helping us with our problems. We must remember that God cannot help us unless we repent from our sins and trust in Him. WHEN we are proud We become proud of what we have, our status or our natural strength eg intellect. Being egoistic and seeing ourselves as independent and the one incharge, we do not feel the need for God. Such negative pride makes us arrogant, letting our self-centred personality stand in the way of God. WHEN we ignore God's Promises & Teachings It is like putting aside the basis of our faith so without it, how can we trust God? Can a driver drives the vehicle efficiently if he ignores the operating instructions and the highway rules? Likewise, trusting God is observing God's promises & teachings. WHEN confused It's the struggle between our heart & mind. With our mind, we want to reason everything with God. Our logic is 1+2=3, everything should be logical & accountable. But God does not work this way. God is the Supreme Creator & Specialist with the "impossibles" (eg: Moses & the Red Sea, Jonah & the fish, bush on fire but not burnt). In present time, we have faith healing and testimonies from fellow Christians. We should learn to recognise God's mighty power at work & accept that God Himself is the Master of all creations & also the standard of fairness or justice. Our duty is to trust God even if we don't understand it, no matter what! WHEN hurt or disappointed Being rejected or hurt by others; failure in our endeavours or even death of loved ones. We tend to focus on the situations & get very upset instead of trusting in God's plan. Self-pity, lack of self-worth & passive emotions stop us from trusting God. We will have troubles but Christ has overcome them. We need to seek God's peace to help us remain strong in our faith & hope. Trouble will come & go, trust God to see us through! Remember Rom 8:28 "...all things work for the good ... for His purpose.." Attachments & bondage When we become so attached to someone or something (cash, habit or material thing) and these take priorty over God in our lives, we are unable to trust God. We shift our hope, love & faith to these attachments and away from God. When our hearts are not right with God, there will be no trust for God. WHEN we say "What if ..." and "Let's hope..." These are passive & ungodly attitudes. These are hopelessness and "Give up" sign, leaving it to other forces except God. We lose focus of God's promises & become aimless like lost sheep. But Christ our Saviour is our Shepherd whom we have to trust to lead us towards our heavenly home! Well, there will be more such situations if we care to look out for them. Knowing the problem is the first step towards the solution. Being concious of the way we trust and not trust God, help us build a better relationship with God. By now, we would have recognised the close relationship between hope & trust, they move in the same direction. Of course, we do not usually have problem handling pleasant reality but the way we cope with harsh & unwelcomed reality will testify our faith, love & hope in God. It is not easy but neither too difficult so long as we practise living out reality in the spiritual way - seeing reality & spirituality as one and having only the Christ-centred attitude towards it. (It's the attitude that moulds us.) The basis of our Christian worldview is our faith, love & hope and living reality through God. Although love is thought to be the greatest among faith, love & hope, the foundation of our relationship with God is Hope. Col 1:5 "..faith & love that spring from the Hope in heaven.." Our attitude & behaviour is determined by our belief system and our belief system must be shaped by our hope in God. The stronger our foundation (hope), the stronger is our faith & love ! Our hope in God is build upon : - God's grace & mercy - Our salvation in Christ Jesus (eternal life) - God's Will & Purpose - New heaven & earth - Our future destination in Heaven - Christ 2nd coming Therefore, let's hold firmly to our hope in God "as an anchor for the soul, firm & secure.. Rather than being disturbed by the uncertainties around us, we should concentrate on all we can do to demonstrate our love for God. Be encouraged by the many faithful children of God who had held strongly to this same hope although they did not receive the promises even uptil their death (Heb 11) "So fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal." (2Cor 4:18) So does it not matter anymore that God is Spirit and invisible? No, Not Anymore! Our part is to trust & obey God in our attitudes & by our behaviour. It is the only way to a meaningful spiritual living in reality! God bless. Irene / 281102 |
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| If you do not stand firm in your faith, you do not stand at all. - Isaiah 7:9 |
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