Walk in Hope!

        "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." (Rom.12:12)
         Such a simple lesson really...but for me, it was a game changer.  Or at the very least, a major attitude changer.  And don't we all need that?
        I was walking with Mr. B on the greenway.  And as usual, he'd managed to find himself a fine, big stick.  Life's simple pleasures!

           My daughter, Mary Norris Tilmes, called and over the course of the conversation, she something that I hope I never forget:
           "It's always better to walk in hope."
           Wow, I needed to hear that.  Anybody else?  Let me explain--
           You see, I'd started to become one of those people who tries to steel myself against disappointment by preparing for the worst outcome.  Yes, yes, I know this is absolutely NOT how a woman who loves the Lord of all grace and goodness should ever think or behave, but there it is.
           As I think back, I believe it had slowly developed into an ugly, hidden habit dating back to a few totally unexpected phone calls--one when my brother called to say our active, vibrant mama had suddenly collapsed and wasn't expected to survive.  She went home to be with Jesus early the next morning.  And then, about a month later, while we were all still reeling, here came another shocking phone call from the doctor telling us that our healthy, wonderful daddy had terminal cancer.
          Suddenly the phone had become a dangerous, unpredictable enemy...and I began to answer it warily...worried and certain that something dangerous was lurking around the corner.  That tendency was exacerbated following the phone call a few years later telling us our daughter had been in a terrible wreck.
           So here's how I unconsciously began coping--expect the worst and then you won't be suddenly shocked or terribly disappointed.  This could apply in all walks of life--from watching the Tar Heels play basketball ("They're down by 2...this game is over"--even though it was only 10 minutes into the first  half.  For pete's sake!)...to watching our boys play golf (one bad hole morphed into a potential catastrophe in my overwrought imagination.  Geez.)...to a child not answering their phone while traveling out of town ("They must be lying by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere."  Really?  How does that help?).
           But no matter how this ridiculous tendency got started, as Mary Norris and I chatted that afternoon, I realized how right, how wise, she was when she said, "If we're going to be disappointed, it doesn't make it any easier to try to prepare for it ahead of time.  We'll be disappointed either way.  But we can survive disappointment.  So why not walk in hope?"
           Seriously, why on earth not?!  How does it help to adopt a posture of assuming the worst or preparing for disappointment?   All it does is make you miserable in advance!
          And that kind of preemptive worry or negativity does nothing--NOTHING!--to help you deal with a possible future disappointment or undesirable outcome, should it occur.  All it does is drain the present of hope and joy and peace.  But as redeemed children of the King of Kings, we are called to walk with hope, with joy, with faith in the One who has all, all, all things under His sovereign control and is working according to His perfect plans.
           Yeah sure, the outcome may not be what we want...but no matter what, He will be there with us and for us, and He's promised to bring our ultimate good and His greater glory out of every circumstance. (Rom.10:28)   We might sometimes be momentarily disappointed...but we'll never be deserted.  And we need never be in despair, because we walk with the One who is Hope Incarnate. 
            So instead of walking in worry....or walking in dread...or even just walking in a disappointment-anticipating frame of mind, let's walk in hope!  In fact, how about we walk in hope assuming the best, not the worst, and trust Him with whatever and however?
            Our God lives and reigns...and He commands us to "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." (Rom.12:12)
            By the grace of God and for His glory, let's walk in hope....because we walk with Him.  
           To God be the glory.

One Great Love

Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing My great Redeemer's praise,
The glories of my God and King,  the triumphs of His grace.
My gracious Master and my God assist me to proclaim
To spread through all the earth abroad the honors of Thy name.
So come on and sing out, let our anthem grow loud,
There is One Great Love...
Jesus!

 Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease

'Tis music in the sinner's ears, tis life and health and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin, He sets the prisoners free:

His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood availed for me

So come on and sing out, let our anthem grow loud, 

There is One Great Love...

Jesus!

He speaks and listening to His voice new life the dead receive

The mournful broken hearts rejoice, the humble poor believe.

Glory to God and praise and love be ever, ever giv'n

By saints below and saints above, the church in earth and Heav'n.

So come on and sing out, let your anthem grow loud

There is One Great Love...

Jesus!

        Thank You, Father.  Praise You for Your glorious creation.  Thank You for the magnificent snow that transformed this earth, reminding us that You make all things new.  All things.  

        And one glorious day, You will transform our lowly, tired bodies and this weary old world into such transcendent, resplendent glory that mind cannot conceive the wonder, the joy, the power, the beauty of all You will do and all that You are and all that we will be in You--our One Great Love. 

        Thank You that so many dear friends like Ray...Carol...Lynda...Sam...and so many others are now seeing You face to face.  Oh what that must be like!  Thank You for tiny glimpses of that glory in the astounding, transforming wonder of the snow...in music and worship...in laughter and tears shared with loved ones...in Your blood red beauty of the cardinals.  We love You, too, Lord.   

       Thank You that we can join the chorus even now of praising, rejoicing, and enjoying You.  "Glory to God and praise and love be ever given by saints below and saints above, the church in earth and heaven."  That's them...and that's us!  They are the saints singing and rejoicing and praising above, Father, so help us to join in here below.  As Ray said, "Let our lives be one gigantic thank you."  Yes, Lord, yes!  With our lives, with our tongues, with our love, with our forgiveness, with our sharing, with our gratitude.    

       As they sing above, Father, oh give us relentless, joyful, grateful tongues here below to sing of--and to live for--our One Great Love...Jesus. 

        So come on...so come on...so come on...You've got today--this day, right now--to live for His glory, to love by His power and in His name, and to sing of His goodness and greatness.  Start living, loving, praising, singing...for He is our infinitely glorious One Great Love...Jesus.

        To God be the glory forever and ever.   

       

Running like Ray

       "There are better things ahead than any we leave behind." C.S. Lewis
        Praise God for the Gift of all gifts--the Lord Jesus--who came so infinitely far down to this weary, sin-sick world to provide and assure us that this is true, absolutely true.  Yes, as believers there are richly fulfilling, riotously joyful, stunningly glorious things ahead...infinitely, unimaginably better things than any we leave behind.
        Thank You, Jesus.  Thank You. 
        How thankful so many of us are right now, particularly right now,  for the promise, the hope, the glory of the Resurrection and of Heaven.  I have several dear friends who are at this minute glimpsing eternity and their heavenly home--one directly, others through someone they love.  And it's hard.  So hard.
        Like so many others, I have been weeping.  Heavy sobs of sorrow and even bewilderment, especially in the case of one amazing, remarkable, godly, irreplaceable man.  We pray for a miracle, but we also trust in the Sovereign One who loves him, loves his family, loves us far more than we can begin to comprehend.
        And now, I simply say,  thank You, Father, for the gift, the priceless gift, of this man's beautiful, Christ-exalting life.  For the eternal impact he has made in so many lives.  In my children's lives.  In my husband's life.  In my life.  Oh how God can use one man or woman fully devoted to Him.
        Abba, when we're weary or weak or tempted to quit, help us to remember that You did not quit.  Not for a moment.
        And help us think of how You have used our dear friend to change countless lives for their good and Your glory.  Like his Savior, he didn't quit.  Not ever.  Even now he runs his race to the finish line...faithfully, lovingly, all out, all the way.  Because that's how he's lived. 
        And so we will do our best--by Your grace, for Your glory--to do the same.  There are souls out there who need to hear of the astounding love of Jesus...of His amazing grace.  Of His glorious story of redemption: He came to live the  life we could not live, to die the death we deserved, and to rise to resurrection life to give us the eternal life we could never earn, never merit...but can and do through the Lord Jesus Christ, our  Savior, our King, our Lord.
        Don't let us quit, Jesus. Don't let us ever give up or flag in sharing Your love, sharing Your grace, sharing Your song of redemption with a world desperate to know the Truth.  Keep us running our race all the way to the finish line as well with our gazes locked on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
        Keep us running like Ray till we see You face to face. 
        We pray this in the sweet name of our Lamb of God who died for our sins and the conquering name of our Lion of Judah who defeated the grave...the beautiful, powerful name of Jesus.
         Christ alone, Cornerstone...through the storm You are Lord, Lord of all.
        To You be the glory forever and ever. 
     

Start where you are

         It's January 3rd...and I'm sick of winter.  If fact, I'm totally done with winter.  Could someone please inform winter?  Thank you very much.
        ...Hmm.  That strategy does not seem to be working.  It's still frigid outside...Mr. B still insists on being walked (in fact, he's downright giddy in this weather--a fact I do not appreciate in the least)...and my love for the beauty of God's glorious creation appears to be waning...or actually has dropped off a cliff and into a "pitt of despond." 
        Oh my, forgive me, Father.  Forgive Your often spoiled, ungrateful, grumpy little child. 
        And thank You thank You thank You that despite all that, I can still call You Abba, Father.  And I can still call myself Your child.  Might none of us ever take that unutterable privilege and joy for granted--to be so forgiven, so cherished, so empowered, so loved by the King of the universe and the almighty, majestic Lord of Lords.  Yet You call us Your beloved child.
          That's one of the things I love about the New Year--what a living picture of the fresh start we can enjoy with our Father everyday, every week, ever year.
           As Anne of Green Gables said, "Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with  no mistakes in it yet?" 
           What a magnificent sunrise (even if the temperature is cooooold).  A beautiful start to a new day. 

         "Sing to the Lord a new song." (Isa.42:10)  A new song of praise and thanksgiving to replace my dirge of complaining!
          "Behold, I am making all things new." (Rev.21:5)  A new year for new habits, new dreams, new hopes, new efforts, new starts.  It's never ever too late to start again, right?
          What new habits are you hoping to establish this year?  What new dreams, new projects do you hope to launch?  Maybe you're feeling like it's January 3rd, and you've already blown that new start, that new habit, that new whatever.  Well, start today.  Start anew.  Start now. 
           Shauna Niequist tells about a friend's new year’s resolution to "Start where you are." 
           How simple but how good is that?!  Start right now, right where you are...even though it's not the ideal time...even though it's not the perfect place...even though you're not completely ready...even though you don't "have it all together" (because, really, that day will never come!). 
           Nope, jettison perfect or prepared or ideal.  Simply "Start where you are." 
           Niequist writes, "Whatever thing seems too intimidating, whatever new skill seems too far off to develop, whatever project has been hanging over your head forever: start where you are.  Each of us has been created by a holy God with love on purpose and for a purpose. But so many of us feel afraid or unprepared. This is the secret though: no one is prepared enough.  No one is perfectly ready!  Let’s choose together to take one step forward today, whatever that means…The world is full of people who can talk your ear off about all the reasons they can’t possibly just begin that thing they’re longing to begin. 
           Let’s not be those people.  Let’s start where we are.”
           Amen.  Praise God He is the Lord of new beginnings, new songs, new starts, and new life. 
           To God be the glory.