Unwavering

It’s the middle of the night here in London. I’ve been back in the UK about 33 hours which means jetlag is in full swing. As I lay wide awake in bed my mind was meditating on unwavering faith, specifically the faith that Abraham had in Romans 4.

God had made a promise to Abraham, a promise that seemed impossible to keep. In fact in Romans 4:18, we read that Abraham hoped against hope. In other words, he had hope in a hopeless situation. What gave him this hope were the promises of God.

For those who are unaware, my brother Tony has been in a serious auto accident. His recovery is filled with good days and bad days, and it would be easy to find myself wavering or staggering at God’s promises. My hope must rest in that which is certain. This is what Abraham did. In Romans 4:20-21, we read that “no distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.”

If you find your hope wavering, it’s possible that it is placed in the wrong source. Abraham placed his hope in the promises of God. God does not lie nor change his mind. What are some of his promises that we can stand on in the roller-coaster of our hardships?

• God is good and he works good in our lives. The Bible tells us in Mark 10:18 that God is good and in Romans 8:28 we see that everything he does is for the good of his people. I have very limited knowledge. I am not the Lord’s counselor, so I am in no position to tell him how he should act. Some of you may remember the film, Bruce Almighty. Not having God’s wisdom and trying to play the part of God, he found that rather than doing good in people’s lives, he was harming them. This is how it is when we try to tell God what would be good in our lives. It is for us to trust his goodness.
• God is love and he works his love in our lives. The Bible tells us that God’s very character is defined by love (1 John 4:8) and that even the difficulties in our lives are actually fingerprints of his love at work (Proverbs 3:12; James 5:11). Even when I do not see the purpose in what God is doing, I can stand unwavering knowing that God loves those who trust in Christ his own.
• God is committed and he sees his work to completion in our lives. Sometimes it seems like the difficulties never end. But the reality is God sees his works through to completion. He is unlike so many of us who begin projects and never finishes them. He completes everything he starts (Philippians 1:6). Whatever work he is doing in our lives, God is positively relentless in finishing the work. He doesn’t abandon us.

If you find yourself wavering in difficulties, have you considered who your God is? Is your God faithful in his promises? If you trust in Jesus, you can stand unwavering knowing that as the Scripture says, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

Hope

This is a word that gets a lot of play. When we use the word hope, we usually mean that we should cross our fingers and wish for the best. Hope then becomes nothing more than positive thinking. But the Bible gives us a different perspective on the word hope.

Hope carries the idea of an expectation of good. Hope is coupled with certainty, that is to say, certainty regarding the future. The question then is not one of IF, but of WHEN. Romans 8:24 says, “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?” Hope is based in what is coming. It is far deeper than the mere crossing of fingers with earnest longings.

In the midst of tragedy, we can have hope. Hope that is anchored in Jesus brings confidence in God’s goodness, and thus peace in our soul. Even when the product of that hope is veiled, the certainty of that hope is sure.

How do we apply this in these circumstances?

1.) God has promised to do good in the lives of Jesus’ followers.

Romans 8:28, And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

We may not understand the why’s and how’s but we trust in the who. 

2.) Ultimately, our hope is the God of power himself, not just what God can do. 

Jeremiah 32:17, ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. 

When we see how great God is, the things that seem so big to us are put in their right proportion. God is bigger and we expect good from God, and trust that God knows what is good more than we do.

3.) The hope for the Christian is stronger than the grave.

1 Peter 1:3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

This hope is not temporal. In other words, anything in which we place our hope in this life will ultimately fail us, whether today, tomorrow, or forty years down the line. But the hope that comes through Jesus conquers the grave and is eternal.

We can rest in hope. Hope that God is good, God is bigger than the crisis, and that God in Jesus conquered the grave which means there is hope of life.

Waiting

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I do hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning. (Psalm 130:5-6)

When something happens that is bigger than us, there is a real sense of helplessness. All we can do whether 6000, 400, or 1 mile(s) away is wait on God and hope in his promises. We should choose to wait actively on God who makes all things beautiful in his time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

I write this because it may be of some help and encouragement for some of you, as I apply waiting on God in the midst of a family crisis as my brother Tony lies in a coma. What does waiting on God in a situation like this look like? Here's what it looks like for me right now.

Realize my own powerlessness - not just in this situation, but in all things. My breath, talents, family, even when, where, and to whom I was born are all gifts of God. Nobody is the Invictus, captain of their fate and master of their soul. Therefore, since my own power is an illusion, I look to him who has all power. This causes me to ask God (pray) for my brother's life. I cannot grant life. My positive thinking might change my outlook, but it doesn't change circumstances. I have no power. Even the power the doctors have is a gift from God. It is to God that I must pray. At the end of the day, Tony is better off in God's hands than in mine.

Rest in my storms - my soul can wait even in urgency when I realize that God is in control. Waves can crash about and gail force winds can blow with such force that would cause uncertainty, despair, and confusion. But the soul that finds rest in God alone, is the soul that weathers the storm, for God gives strength in place of our weakness. My prayer is that God would sustain myself and all those in this storm, especially Tony for whom this storm is most real. Jesus was able to sleep in the storm on the Sea of Galilee while the disciples were in panic. I need to keep looking to Jesus who is the giver of real rest.

Rely on God's word - I find comfort, direction, encouragement in God's word (Bible). My thoughts can get carried away, but God's word is a plumb-line that brings me back to the place of a quieted soul which is trusting in the reality of God's truth.

Dealing with Life’s Crises

This past week has been a roller-coaster emotionally. My little brother Tony was in a car accident with a lorry in California. He now lies in critical condition in a coma. I arrived here in California last Wednesday. I find the sheer intensity of emotion exhausting (my jetlag is probably also playing into that). We are spending a lot of time in the ICU and in the off hours we are at the hospital accommodation (for people with loved ones in critical condition). Having spoken to different people both at the ICU unit and at the hospital accommodation, there are certain themes that become very obvious. Evaluation of life is taking place in various family members of various families as the ones they love are in critical condition. Some are on the mend, others are still in the dark. Conversations I have had with people these past few days brought Ecclesiastes 7:3 to mind which reads, “Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.”

This means that in sorrow and hardship, the realities of life must be addressed and dealt with. There is a certain realness and authenticity in those who are in the throws of hardship. This is no time for games, but time for reflection and contemplation. And those reflections rightly applied are ultimately turned to gladness. Here are some of the things I am seeing.

1. In crisis people re-evaluate those things that are truly important in life. Life is full of diversions. Many things cry out for attention. To give one thing your attention is to withhold that attention from something else. Unfortunately it often takes a crisis to strip away all the veiling things in life to get to its core.
2. In crisis people come to grips with their own frailty and begin to turn to God. As the saying goes, “there are no atheists in foxholes.” Everyone I have spoken with regarding their loved ones in critical condition is saying things like, “We are praying.” GK Chesterton, the famous British author once said, “The worst moment for an atheist is when he has a profound sense of gratitude and has no one to thank.” It could also probably be said that the worst moment for an atheist is when he has a profound sense of helplessness and has nobody to call upon. It is interesting that so far everyone I have spoken with is quick to say they are praying for their loved one, and nobody is refusing prayer.
3. In crisis people must deal with their own mortality. Our society does many things well, but we are very poor at preparing one another for the reality that 10 out of 10 people will die. As a society we elevate youthfulness because when we are young, we think we will live forever. We try to botox away death. We do not know how to deal with this inevitability, so we ignore it. In the 18^th century, several years after the revival of John and Charles Wesley, the Methodists as they aged began to die in great numbers. One doctor who attended many of these Methodist Christians on their death beds said to John Wesley, “Your people die well.” Rather than ignoring their mortality all their life, they spent their life in preparation for it.

The bottom line is that in crisis, people get real. I myself am writing from the seat of crisis. But the beautiful thing is when we look to Jesus, he doesn’t waste the crises but uses them. I trust God is using this crisis that we (and especially that my brother Tony) are in. As you read this, please pray for my little brother: www.prayfortony.blogspot.com