Dawn in the Golan
Exercise Hope to Build Faith
Dear Friends, as I’ve considered various events over the past two months of uncertainty, here are some of my thoughts this week.
Certainty feels good but gracious uncertainty is good.
A daily reading this week in My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers particularly resonated with my heart. He writes: The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life– gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life.
In the past few months (and apparently the next few on the horizon), God has placed us in a setting of uncertainty - and yet He calls us to live with certainty.
It’s quite a challenge. But when we think about it, it shouldn’t be. If we believe that salvation through Jesus is a gift, then we are “certain in our uncertainty” regarding the greatest unknown we face: what happens when we die. If we have faith that God mercifully gives us assurance regarding the greatest unknown, we should be able to hope with confidence that God will be with us in the smaller unknowns.
Faith and hope do not lend themselves to being “stored up” in good times and then used in times of uncertainty. It’s as if each day, our thoughts and feelings seem to hit a “reset” button and we have to practice faith, hope, and “certainty with gracious uncertainty” all over again. Hope and faith are like muscles. They become stronger when we use them and weaker when we don’t. Hope guides. Faith sustains. Love measures. Paul learned to be content in the midst of all circumstances, even uncertain ones. In 1 Corinthians 13:12-13, he writes, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”
“These three,” faith, hope and love, thrive in uncertainty. It’s the soil in which they are intended to grow. As we have lived through these tumultuous months, this verse has become fresh to me.
**Hope**: Hope is what we long for, look forward to, or desire to happen. Hope lifts our gaze above our current circumstances. It redirects us from despair. Times of uncertainty are the fork in the road when we must choose to walk in hope or despair.
**Faith**: Faith is the level of confidence we have in our hopes. Hebrews 11:1-2 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by faith, the men and women of old gained approval.” We often use the word faith in reference to a set of religious doctrines. “I have a Christian faith”, She belongs to the Jewish faith, or Muslim faith.” But that is not the way Paul uses the word. Faith simply measures the level of confidence we have in our hope.
**Love**: Rather than define love, as he does for faith and hope, Paul describes it in 1 Corinthians 13. Love is patient, kind, not irritable etc… And, in this context, Love is the metric to help us determine if our hopes and faith are aligned. When we live in hope and have a high level of confidence (faith) in that hope, love flows in us and from us more easily.
Try this spiritual exercise:
What are you hoping for? What do you want? Answer the question as if Jesus is asking in your presence. Allow the pierce of his loving gaze to identify the deepest, purest, highest hopes of your heart. The hopes can be related to the circumstance of today or beyond.
How much confidence do you have that your hope will become sight? If you're not sure, consider how you feel when that which you hope for seems threatened by external circumstances. Also consider the attributes of love- do they flow through your thoughts, words and actions?
In light of the presence of Jesus, are your hopes still worth hoping for? If so, do you have confidence and peace as you wait for them? Ask God to build your faith for that hope. Consider the character of God. How does reflecting on His character affect the level of confidence in that longing?
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.” They are everlasting. Pray God will guide us to navigate this changing present age by rooting us in those things that are unchanging.
It’s helpful for me to distill what I am thinking about and hopefully you are encouraged. I’m trying to send out a similar email every week or so. Feel free to forward this to any friends you think would enjoy it and/or benefit from it.
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With much love,
Ed