For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
And after my skin is
destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
- Job 19:25-27
I wonder what it would be like to see Job say this -- dirty and skinny and crusty and bloody and smelly and sitting dressed in sackcloth in an ash heap. I wonder how his friends reacted hearing him say this.
This week I have been reading The Heavenly Man and realizing how little I know about hope -- the real thing. Hope is knowing that it's worth it to be separated from your mother and wife and family for Christ's sake. Hope is knowing that it's worth it to be beaten and left in a septic tank for Christ's sake. Hope is knowing that it's worth it to be an utter fool in the world's eyes for Christ's sake.
Hope is having nothing by earthly measurements, and still knowing that you have all things in Christ.
It seems like a lot of the time my idea of hope is trusting in God to work things out to a happy conclusion in earthly terms. But it could be that the way He chooses to display the power of His hope in my life is through suffering. Mundane, everyday things just going badly, really badly. Or sudden catastrophe that shatters life's treasures all in one blow. This week I heard Paul saying from Philippians "it's not about you." Why is it that that still comes as a surprise?
2 comments:
Are those "hope is" statements supposed to be attributes of hope or consequences of hope? I'm still not 100% on what you think hope is...
(Not that you're obligated to tell me or anything, but I'm curious. I still can't tell if we disagree about what hope is or whether we just talk about the same thing in different ways.)
Hmm. I guess what I'm getting at is that hope is knowing in faith that the God Who promised is faithful and living in a way that expresses that knowing. Not sure if that's any better of an explanation...
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