Strains of Hope - Week One: Day One

Ephesians 1 is one of those chapters you could camp out on and spend several days mining it for the richness and truth it possesses!

During college I was assigned homework that required I write literal translations of every single word in Ephesians 1 and 2 from Greek. I got started looking for the efficient way of getting it done. I ended with a changed perception of who I am and how God sees and relates me!

One thing this chapter tells us is that the vastness of God’s character, wealth and wisdom is incredible! How often do I stop to remember that I was chosen by Him before the world began and that all that He is and possesses is mine. More to the point…do I stop to remember that those ‘benefits’ are available to me now? In the original language the tense used in this passage are present and active. Which means that God isn’t saying, “when you get to heaven….”(although almost daily I find myself wishing we were there already!!) He’s saying that having our eyes opened: knowing, understanding and benefiting from the hope of His calling, the riches of his inheritance, the surpassing greatness of His power are all things we can enjoy right now. In THIS life!

And this is where faith comes in. While material and physical benefit follow faith – they are not always the initial fruit. We see this in the example of Paul’s life especially but also in many believers past and present that choose to walk and live by faith. Material and physical benefit are not the aim. As I mentioned during our first evening together. Faith isn’t a formula or a set of magic words that we put together to get what we want…or even those things we so desperately need!

Faith works from the inside out. Faith brings richness, a power, a peace that no amount of physical security can match. God through the Holy Spirit quickens, or makes alive, our faith…he stretches and grows it…sometimes by asking us to believe in things we can’t see yet (and sometimes by doing things that others might consider strange!) …and as we grow from the inside out we begin to reap the awesome benefits that come from living a life of faith.

An example of this is found in the life of Abraham. He had to step out in faith (which is by the way, as Beth points out, an active, ongoing thing..sometimes it requires moment by moment effort!) and Go before he could receive the promises God made to him.

A very scary experience indeed! Can you imagine uprooting yourselves, taking your kids out of school, selling most everything you had and traveling across this nation in a camper or with a tent? Going from place to place and only stopping and staying when I God said “stop” and moving again when He said “go”?

Having lived a bit of a nomadic life myself I can tell you it’s rough moving all the time…even as a single person without the additional responsibilities of children! There’s no way I’d want to do that with kiddio’s in tow! Yet at the end of the story Abraham was the richest man around. Wealth, security, answered prayers and an all around awesome life were the end result to the painful process of faith developed through obedience and hardship.

Think about how Sarah felt? How would you feel? What would be your gut reaction if your husband came home and told you what Abraham told Sarah?

I’d be chucking a fit! Wouldn’t you? Remember that Sarah was not superwoman. She was just like you. A married woman trying to be a good wife, raise her children right, provide for her family. With many of the same concerns and problems we have today minus microwaves and instant food of course!

We have a tendency to glorify people in Scripture…just like we do those who have died. No matter how much of a pill ol’ Aunt Priss was….when she’s gone everyone makes her out to be a saint. It causes us to lose touch with the fact that although Aunt Priss had some redeeming qualities….she also could really get under your skin.

Let’s be real for a second and note that the people in Scripture…like ol’ Aunt Priss…were just that…P E O P L E. There was nothing divine or perfect about them. They were just as human, just as beautifully flawed as ol’ Aunt Priss!

God hasn’t sent your husbands home from work and told you start your own trek across the nation. But what is He asking you to do? While individual situations may differ…ultimately He’s asking you to take a risk and trust Him with your life, your home, your husband, your job, your family and your greatest dreams.

In exchange for your trust? He will open your eyes and enlighten you so that you will know the hope of His calling, the riches and glory of His inheritance and the surpassing greatness of His power.

Let me ask you…couldn’t you do with a little hope? I dare say we all could stand going through life knowing that we are no longer depending on our ability to make things work.
Although the political candidates may be offering hope for sale….only God can meet the needs we have. The question is when we’re going to stop trusting men (including our own abilities) and starting trusting God above all else?

This is the shift that faith requires. When I choose to rely on God’s ability to make my life work…rather than my own. It’s scary to let go…..but as faith works from the inside out; I think we’ll all be glad to know that his surpassing greatness is taking care of our lives and those closest to us.

So walk a mile in Sarah’s shoes today as you think about faith and how it relates to your own life.