Hope

With You there is always hope.

Not hope like the world gives – 

Wishful thinking, pipe dreams, name it and claim it, 

pennies in fountains –

My hope is built on nothing less than

You, Jesus, and Your righteousness!

You are the namer of stars – You're their creator, too!

You are the freer of slaves.

You are the healer of all sickness.

You are the builder of mansions.

You are the cleanser of all sin.

You are the giver of live.

Why do I worry?

Why do I bother with doubt 

and self pity?

You are my God!

You are my Savior!

You are my Great High Priest!

You are my Friend.

My Perspective or Yours? • John 11

When Jesus got the message, He said,

"This sickness is not fatal.

It will become an occasion

to show God's glory 

by glorifying God's Son."

John 11:4

•

He said these things, and then announced,

"Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep.

I'm going to wake him up." 

Jesus was talking about death,

while his disciples thought

He was talking about taking a nap.

John 11:11, 13

•

How often, Lord, am I totally missing

what You are clearly saying to me?

How often am I so caught up with

what I think is going on

that I forget to stop

and get Your perspective on things?

You, who knows all things.

I can talk to You any time, any place.

You hear me when I call out to You.

You want me to come and 

talk with You. (Psalm 27:8)

You want to help me understand

and know what is going on.

(Jeremiah 33:3)

You are all powerful!

You are able to do way more 

than I could ever think or imagine!

(Ephesians 3:20)

And yet, too often, I wander around

stuck in my earthy perspective

seeing only dead ends, problems, 

sickness, death. 

(John 11:21, 32, 39b)

My solutions are temporary.

"A good nap will do the trick!"

(John 11:12-13)

Your solutions are eternal!

You are Life!

•

"You don't have to wait for the End.

I am, right now, Resurrection and Life.

The one who believes in Me,

even though he or she dies, will live.

and everyone who lives believing in Me

does not ultimately die at all. 

Do you believe this?"

John 11:25-26

Meeting Hannah

I met Hannah this morning in the quiet darkness of my sleeping home.

Yes, I have met her before... I think the first time she was a paper figure kneeling on a piece of felt in a Sunday School room that smelled of crayons and fruit punch.

I knew that she prayed to the Lord and asked for a son.

And He gave her Samuel.

And then, she gave him back.

That always scared me a bit when I was a little girl. I imagined being dropped off by my mom at this dark and cavernous place with an old priest and voices in the night.

It scares me now as a grown woman who has children. Could I give one back to the Lord? Could I give them all?

This morning I feel like I got to know her a little better. She became more flesh than paper to me today. More real.  

She was one wife of two.

She had no children. The other wife had at least two, if not more.

Her husband loved her, but he didn't understand her.

She had deep pain.

She was laughed at, and taunted.

Her husband thought that she should be happy that she had him. (How's that for an ego trip?)

When her sorrow got too much, too heavy to bear, she finally went alone before the Lord and cried out to Him for help.

She made a big promise.

She was looked down on while she was praying and even thought of as being drunk by the priest.

When she told the priest why she was there and what she was doing, he heard her and believed her.

The priest gave her hope.

And Hannah walked out in faith, believing that she was heard and that she would receive what she prayed for.

Her faith changed her outlook and her behavior.

And she gave birth to a son.

I was blessed to meet Hannah this morning. And the world was blessed because she took her pain to the Lord and because He granted her request.