GraceCreates

By Jon Walker

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:5, NIV)

I’ve never met any chocolate I didn’t like, which is why I’ve struggled with weight most of my life. I’ve dropped it off and then put it back on. I’ve tried every form of diet, and even made up a few of my own.

I maintained a friendly battle with weight – a wink at the straining scale – until I became extra-ordinarily ill and, for about a year, was unable to walk much further than the mailbox. Needless to say, I gained more weight than ever, and found myself facing a huge challenge. I no longer needed to lose 10 or 15 pounds; instead I needed to lose more pounds than there are days in a month, and I’m not referring to February!

With age nipping at my heels, I discovered it wasn’t as easy to drop the pounds as it used to be, and I found myself feeling the situation was hopeless – the kind of hopelessness that makes you think, “What’s the use? I might as well not even try.”

There’s no doubt in my mind that you can relate, not necessarily about the weight, but about the hopelessness. Maybe you’re in a marriage that’s got you thinking, “What’s the use?” Or maybe you’re facing health issues, thinking, “What’s the use?”

Or perhaps you’re in a frustrating job, facing a difficult family issue, wondering if you’ll ever get good enough grades to graduate, dealing with the gut-wrenching death of the most important person in your life, or feeling hopeless after so many attempts to have a baby.

In fact, I stumbled upon this truth when my daughter, Kathryn, died. The truth is that we serve a God of hope, and it’s a hope that will not disappoint (Romans 5:5). It’s not a hope based on feeling; rather, it’s a hope deeply rooted in a relationship with the One Who Can Be Trusted Above All Others.

It doesn’t mean you’ll get everything you want, but it does mean God is working in your life, bringing you to a future hope and a holy healing (Jeremiah 29:11). Let us wait together patiently for this unseen hope that we do not hold yet in our hands, knowing, in faith, that our God of Hope will not abandon us or leave us disappointed.

What does this mean?

• Sufferings lead to hope – “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:2-5, NIV)
• God is working, even if we don’t see it – “…But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness … And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:24-26a, 28, NIV)
• Our only hope is God – “Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.” (Jeremiah 14:22, NIV)
• What’s the use? – Ask yourself, “Where in my life am I saying, ‘What’s the use? I might as well not even try?’” Ask God to give you hope in that area of your life – and believe, in faith, that he will!

If you’d like to receive these devotionals regularly, you can sign-up at www.gracecreates.com/subscribe/. Jon Walker writes from www.gracecreates.com. He is a Zondervan author, and the former writer/editor of the Purpose Driven Life On-Line Devotionals. This devotional is copyrighted 2008 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.

By Jon Walker

For I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances. Philippians 4:11 (NIV)

Have you ever been somewhere you didn’t want to be?  Maybe it was a job, a town, or a marriage.  Maybe it was a stage in life, like singlehood, or a state in life, like a disability.  It’s very possible that as you read this, you’re wishing you were somewhere else – anywhere else – living a different life, but you know it’s not likely that anything is going to change any time soon.

God has a word for you.  It’s the same word he gave a group of people when they were stuck in another country, exiled from their homeland.  They’d folded their arms and said, “We’re going to wait this thing out, and when we get home, we’ll start living our lives.”

Through the prophet Jeremiah, God told them, “You’re not going home any time soon, so start making your lives here.  Plant gardens, buy homes, let your children get married, and pray for the peace and prosperity of the place where you’re currently living because, by doing that, you too will be blessed with peace and prosperity.”

To use a modern cliché, God was saying, “Bloom where you’re planted.”

Don’t invest your energy in hopes of leaving; instead invest your energy in the people around you.  The Christian martyr Jim Eliot expressed it this way: “Wherever you are, be all there.”  Don’t be physically present but mentally somewhere else, thinking of the future or the past, thinking of someplace else.  Our journey with Christ requires that we be fully present in the present.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer called it “this worldliness,” and said, “It is only by living completely in this world that one learns to live by faith.”  This focus allows you to see that your life is centered in God and not the place you live or work, not the person you’re married to – or not married to – not how you feel or how you look. 

Investing in the people around you is exactly how you find life.  Jeremiah even told the exiles that God had arranged for them to be in exile.  So it was God’s plan all along to push them to the edge of their existence, so they would end up centered solely on God.

You may feel like you’re in exile too, but God is still working in your life; and his message to you is: Dig in and fully embrace the life around you.

What does this mean?

• Center your life in God, not in your circumstances. God is constant; your circumstances are temporary. Ask God, “What do you want me to learn or to do in these present circumstances.”
• Change me, God – Instead of asking God to change your circumstances, ask him to change you in the circumstances.
• Practice being in the present – Today, whenever you find your mind drifting to another place, bring it back to the present, and ask God to help you stay in the present.
• Determine to be a good steward of what you have, instead of focusing on what you don’t have. Make the most of what God has given you.

If you’d like to receive these devotionals regularly, you can sign-up at www.gracecreates.com/subscribe/. Jon Walker writes from www.gracecreates.com. He is a Zondervan author, and the former writer/editor of the Purpose Driven Life On-Line Devotionals. This devotional is copyrighted 2008 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.