March 31, 2018

Hope Is Coming

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. – Hebrews 6:19a

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. – Isaiah 53:3-4

Today is the day in between. We have suffered through Good Friday but we haven’t yet seen the miracle of the Resurrection. We our lost, alone, abandoned. Where is hope in the midst of our circumstances?

If you’ve never experienced deep betrayal, harsh words thrown at you, sudden illness, even death, then count yourself fortunate. Jesus warned us that in this world we would have trouble. We see it all around us. We ache from the pain that rips our hearts apart.

We forget that He also said, “I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) We are not lost or alone or abandoned. Hope is coming. Jesus is coming. We just have to get through today.

In the deep valley, it’s sometimes hard to see the sun coming up on the horizon. We look around and see only darkness. The path is rocky, the way unclear. We have been abandoned, rejected by those closest to us. Lies surround us and we wonder if the truth will ever raise its head. It will. Hope is coming.

He was despised by those who didn’t understand. Jesus was mocked and ridiculed. He came to save us all from our sins but we wanted no part of it, of Him. We wanted to live and be a part of this world. We were greedy, arrogant even, in our demands. Until the moment it was all gone. Why did we fight so hard for something we were never meant to have?

This world is not our home. We hear that and nod in agreement. We know what we’re supposed to say, what we’re supposed to believe. Yet we live as though this is all there is. We puff up in self-importance, refusing to acknowledge that it was never about us.

Hope is coming. He hung from a cross. He died so you and I wouldn’t have to spend eternity separated from God. All we have to do is believe, to put our trust, our hope, in Him. Why is it so hard to let go of the things of the world in order to embrace the inheritance that awaits us in heaven?

Maybe we don’t really believe. We know the answers but our hearts tell a different story. Our actions push aside what really matters. We live with our eyes on the prize before us rather than the home that awaits us.

Hope is coming. Jesus was arrested, ridiculed, rejected and abandoned. And yet He loved us enough to conquer death and offer us a way to salvation. Hope in the midst of darkness. Hope in the midst of pain. Hope in the midst of rejection.

Reach out. Don’t you see? There is light just over the horizon. Hang on. Hope is coming.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Today Is Maundy Thursday

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.

He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, He did not open his mouth.
Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants,
that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.

But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the LORD’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among those who were sinners. He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners. -- Isaiah 53:4-12

There is no way we can ever repay Jesus for what He did for us.

Remember.

And believe.