Hope in the word of God

Tonight I was reading from Psalm 119 and came across a passage that I have not considered before, though I am sure I have read it many times.  Psalm 119:147 reads, “I rise before the dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.”  The final phrase, ‘I have put my hope in your word’ seems so simple, but in reality it holds a lot of truth and quite a challenge. 

                What does it mean to put your hope in God’s word?  Yes, we trust Jesus and make things like, ‘Jesus is our rock’ our motto.  But we have to be careful to make sure that we are living as if our hope is in the Lord, and not just proclaiming.  If our hope comes from the living word of God then we have a living hope.  A living hope is one that is vibrant with the truth that is set forth in the Bible.  Our hope in the Lord is a result of the way in which we live our lives. 

                If our hope is in the word, then we should be convicted to live our lives as biblically as possible.  This always reminds me of prayer.  Look at how prayer is described in the Bible.  Jesus taught us how to pray.  When he was on the cross, some of his final words came to us as a prayer on behalf of his enemies.  Hannah prayed for a son and received one.  Daniel prayed for help and the lion’s mouths were closed.  These things were done through petition to the Lord.  How much do we miss out on because we do not pray?  And if prayer is what the Bible claims that it is, then why aren’t we spending hours each day praying for the souls of unbelieving friends?  If our hope is in the word, then we should be living as if the word is our only hope.  And when I look at the world, I fear that prayer is our only hope. 

                Hope in the word also means that we have hope in our future salvation.  I know that my time on earth is limited.  The Bible has taught me that no matter what this world, which is under the control of Satan, may throw at me I can persevere and I WILL spend eternity in Heaven with my God.  What truth is better than this?  There is nothing more that I can say in regards to hope in God’s word.  His word is true and His word is good.  Hope in his word is the assurance of my salvation through my faith in his word, through His is forgiving grace. 

The Check Engine Light

                Sometimes I cannot help but wonder why God ever chooses to bless me.  I am nothing.  No matter how much good I do in my life I will still be nothing.  Yet, I still find myself being continuously blessed.  It is a good thing that the fate of the world does not lay on my shoulders because I could never be so forgiving and merciful. 

                Last weekend I went bowling with a group of friends.  We had a wonderful time and I felt so happy to have a night away from school and work to relax and celebrate the end of the semester.  Unfortunately the drive home did not go how I planned.  It was raining and as all the other cars turned to get on the interstate I told my friend that I was going to take the long way because I don’t like driving on the interstate in the rain.  Well, we made it down Taylorsville and Breckenridge just fine, but as soon as we turned on Cannons I heard a ‘ding, ding’ sound and that troublesome check engine light starting blinking.  We found a side road and before we could park we could smell the engine burning.  It was 11:15 at night, raining, and we were just two girls all by ourselves.  I called my mom, then AAA.  AAA finally answered our call and agreed to come and tow my car.  Actually, we spent more time waiting for AAA to answer the call than for the driver to come and take our car.  My friend called her neighbor, who graciously agreed to come and get us, even though it was late. 

                That night I didn’t sleep.  I didn’t know what was wrong with my car.  I didn’t know if my little, old car had finally bit the dust and I would have to buy a new one.  There were just so many things that were troubling me.  Somewhere around 3:30am I got up and prayed so hard that I could rest, because I knew that I would need my church family in the morning.  When I prayed I feel asleep right away. 

                The next morning I went to church and was surprised to see that I had missed a call and had a voicemail during the worship service.  I listened to the voicemail and it was the mechanic.  He had already looked at my car, knew what needed to be fixed, had the parts and a quote ready and was waiting on my approval to begin work.  I would have my car back by mid-afternoon.  I had him talk to my dad since I don’t speak mechanic and picked my car up at 4:30 in the afternoon. 

                On one hand, I could say, ‘what a hassle!’ But on the other hand, ‘what an amazing blessing!’  I have been so stressed out with school and all, and I think God used this incident to get my attention and show me how richly I have been blessed.  First of all, my car broke down in a safe location when I was with a friend.  I could have been half way between Cincinnati and Louisville, or in a bad part of the city, or I could have been driving by myself late at night.  My car could have had a major issue and I could have been forced to buy a new car.  I had a brother and sister in Christ who were willing to give us a ride home, even though it was late and they didn’t even know me!  My sister called immediately in the morning and offered her car to me if I should need it.  I was able to get my car back in less than 24 hours and did not have to miss any work or borrow anyone’s car.  It was a little bit expensive to fix, but I was able to cover the expenses.   God’s blessings in my life have been boundless. 

                My faith is small indeed.  I stressed out about this so much when I should have known that God would take care of me.  It reminds me of one of my favorite verses, Deuteronomy 2:7, “The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands.  He has watched over your journey through this vast desert.  These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.” My whole life I have been blessed and I will never be able to thank God enough for all that he has done for me.

The Creator of my Heart

Today I came across Psalms 33:15 and I knew right away that I would just have to share it with you all. Take a minute right now to read Psalm 33 so you’ll get the story behind this verse. 

He Who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. –Psalm 33:15

God made the heart of the most horrible person on this Earth.  That person may have turned away from the truth and denounced God as their King and Savior, but He is still their creator.  He considers their every action and sees potential in them long after the world has given up on them.  It really doesn’t matter how far gone someone may seem to be.  God sees the potential they have carried since the time that He created their heart.  He sees the potential through the plan and purpose He created for them.  Praise God for His forgiveness and willingness to use the most unlikely human.  What can I say?  Our God is good and He amazes me daily.

The Beauty of the Lord

“I have asked one thing from the LORD; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the LORD and seeking Him in His temple.”  Psalm 27:4

I came across this verse today while I was on my lunch break and I just had to share it with you all.  I think that God wants us to desire this.  We are constantly failing our God, because we are constantly seeking other sources of happiness.  All that we should desire is God.  We should have the desire to dwell with Him all of our days.  Can you imagine gazing on the beauty of the Lord?  Seriously, Christians we get to do that someday.  That is awesome.  Everything that we are is the Lord anyway, so we might as well give Him our desires as well.  Now you might be thinking that this whole ‘only desire the Lord’ things sounds good but that you would never be able to do it on your own.  That, I feel, is why God gave us the first part of the verse. David is asking God to give him this desire.  There is where I, and probably others, so often fail.  God has great things in planned for me and you.  Someday we are going to go to Heaven and will dwell with the Lord in His temple.  When we are living our day to day lives it is easy to forget this.  But when we ask the Lord for help, he will help us.