Lent Day 40: Hope when all is lost

I wrote this three years ago, and am thinking about it again on this day between Good Friday and Easter. God is good - and trustworthy. When all we hope for is lost, He remains the same, yesterday, today, and forever...

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Their tomorrows were wiped away in an evening. All their hopes, dreams, ambitions, and aspirations attached to Jesus had come to nothing. For years, they'd followed him around the countryside, eating and sleeping where they were given hospitality. It hadn't been easy, but clearly he was someone special.

The day after Jesus died, the disciples were in shock: "He said he'd come to set up a kingdom, and we expected to be elevated with him." And, "We left everything to follow him, but it's been for nothing. He's dead. Gone. We can't believe it!"

Sometimes when hope is utterly dead, God is still at work. "It's not over until it's over." In other words, the outcome is determined by God, not by our understanding.

How could the disciples expect that, just when all was lost, the unthinkable was taking place. Not only a kingdom of earth and humanity was rising, but Jesus was proclaiming dominion over evil, hell, and even death itself. Unbelievable.

Unbelievable... until Easter morning.

In retrospect, it is easier to see the power and majesty of God. When we are wading through darkness, smeared with blame and guilt, drowning in unmet goals, we forget whose resurrection we celebrate. Each day, whether it is challenging or a walk-in-the-park, Jesus who died and rose again sustains us.

Hallelujah for the cross, especially when it seems, to our finite understanding, that all is lost.

Are there things you hoped for, dreamed of, that are on hold or have been lost? How might God be at work in the secret silences between your past and your future?

Read more:
*You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you. Psalm 86:5 ESV

*He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:3-5 ESV

*Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last. Luke 23:46 ESV

*But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 ESV

Moravian Prayer: Lord Jesus, what a precious gift you gave to all humankind—giving up your life so that we would have eternal life. We accept your gift and pray to use our gifts and talents to bring others to know your love. Amen.

How's your hearing?

Can you hear like you used to?

I noticed my first hearing shift after nailing in 1000 square feet of 8" pine flooring, three nails across, every 2 feet. In the process of building our own house, I never thought to put in hearing protection. At the next piano concert, the difference was startling. I had lost an entire middle range of hearing. It was like wearing earplug in that sound bite.

Gradually, it's become harder to distinguish sounds. It's not so much that I can't hear, but that sounds have begun to run together. We notice this in people with hearing aids, to whom every noise is part of a whole. When we are young, it is easy to zone in and out between sounds.

Are some of us are losing our spiritual hearing as well? Were you on high alert as a spiritual baby? Was I trusting as a child, knowing that God had you in his hands? A fervent believer as a teen? A ready listener as a young adult or parent?

Has our hearing changed as life buffets us? Has the gap between your expectations and the reality of daily routines turned your ears to other voices? Have my disappointments hardened my eardrums so that God needs to poke me with a big stick as well as talk to me?

If so, in this week after Easter, let's turn our hearts and our spiritual hearing up! Let's consider the wonder of God's accomplishments at the cross and during resurrection. No other god is living and active on behalf of His people. No other god has DONE for us rather than constantly demanding that followers DO more and more. Our God fulfilled His justice by sacrificing Himself for us; we don't have to keep flagellating ourselves, obeying harder and higher rules to placate Him! How amazing is that!!!

From Real Simple Daily Thought

God looks at us through the sacrifice of Christ and is ecstatic at our relationship. He loves us without limit. Picks us up when we fall down. Dusts us off and encourages us to turn always, to listen always, to obey always ... for our good and an abundant life. No, this God is not like other gods!

God leaves the choice to you and me. Will we turn up our spiritual hearing aids by spending time in scripture, prayer, and the Community of faith?

Or will we pursue our comfortable, selfish agenda, never finding harmony, fulfillment, and peace?

Listen to that small still voice. What are you hearing today?

Read more:
*His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. Psalm 91:4 NLT

*The angels said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” Luke 24:5 NLT

Moravian Prayer: Hallelujah! The impossible has happened: the tomb is empty; Christ lives among and within us! May we see signs of resurrection in everything around us today. May we celebrate hope and new life: Christ is risen indeed! Hallelujah! Amen!