🎢 Camp Fear or Camp Fun?

 

How hope—not fear—changes the ride

Scripture:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

—John 16:33 (NIV)

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There are two types of people when it comes to roller coasters—those who scream in terror and those who scream with joy. Everyone seems to land in one camp or the other. People in Camp Fear find the sensation of falling out of control too much to handle. The people in Camp Fun? Honestly, I have no idea what’s going on in their heads—because I belong squarely in the first group.

But maybe that’s the key: what’s going on in our heads. One group interprets the feeling of plummeting as exhilarating. The other? We’re just trying not to barf. It all starts with how we think.

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So how do we in Camp Fear overcome anxiety?

It’s not just about roller coasters.

Fear of cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, the loss of loved ones—and for me, Dallas traffic—are all very real. We’ve seen it. We know 💩 happens. Life can—and will—go wrong.

So if all that is true, how do we overcome fear?

The Bible tells us “do not fear” more than 300 times. That tells me two things: (1) fear is part of the human condition, and (2) we are called to something better. God doesn’t ask us to fly without wings—and I don’t believe He would command “fear not” without giving us a way to do it.

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Is fear the opposite of faith?

I used to think so. That if I feared, I lacked faith. And then came the guilt.

But Moses experienced both. So did David. Jesus, in the garden, was deeply troubled. Maybe fear isn’t always the absence of faith. Maybe it’s a mindset.

I fear the blows that life (or the enemy) might deal me or my loved ones. This world is hard. God promises to bring beauty from ashes, but I still dread the fire. Maybe that dread is where the enemy wins—not just in the pain, but in the anticipation of pain.

I’m not about to pretend that God makes life on earth rosy. He doesn’t promise that. But when I let fear dominate my mind, I destroy my chance at joy. Maybe this is why God commands us not to fear—because fear robs us of the joy of walking through life with the Spirit.

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Fear may not be the opposite of faith.

Maybe it’s the opposite of hope.

Hope keeps our eyes on the final outcome.

Fear fixates on the next possible disaster.

God can bring beauty from ashes—but fear? I can’t recall Him ever transforming that into something beautiful. Fear poisons relationships. It wears down our bodies. It steals our joy and blinds us to God’s nearness.

So maybe the answer isn’t to expect an easy ride—but to throw up our hands and trust the track.

Because in the end, God wins.

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Reflection:

When I find myself white-knuckling through the day, I must remember my hope. I must pry each finger off the safety bar, throw my hands in the air, and join Camp Fun. Not because life is painless—but because the ride ends in glory.

Let the enemy do his worst—I know how the story ends.

The Most Costly Requirement

 My Baptist preacher’s kid upbringing taught me the process to becoming a Christian is to walk up an aisle in front of a church, say a prayer with the guy in front of the church, and get dunked in a pool of water. It was much later in my life that I discovered that this process, though it is not wrong, it is not all of the story and also not a set-in-stone procedure. My point is that it is a cultural tradition more than a universal requirement for salvation and is not the whole story.

So what is the requirement for salvation as lined out by the Bible? What steps must be followed? After searching, it appears that the only qualifier is belief. How easy is that? And if all we have to do is believe, why aren’t more people professed Christians? If it is so easy to become a follower of Christ, why aren’t more people following him? What is the big barrier? In my more recent life experience, I realized that the hardest thing about becoming a believer is what precedes belief in Christ. It is a posture of the heart that must happen first. This blog is my attempt to describe it. 

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This posture of the heart is described in the Bible as acknowledgment that I am a sinner just like everyone else. “Sinner” is a heavy word and we are hesitant to take it on as a label. It’s hard to admit that my sins are no less than the sins of any other person on this planet. It is seeing myself as much in need of redemption as a bigot, or a liar or even a politician. It is difficult to profess that the guy to my right and the guy to my left are no better or no worse than me. Internalizing that I am the same as everyone else, no better than my worst enemy, is a huge ask! It is declaring to God that the struggle is more than I can handle on my own. In a nutshell, this little barrier to belief is called humility.

You might be wondering if this humble pathway to belief is recorded in the Bible anywhere. I am a digital queen so my Bible is digital as well. It enables me to quickly find information that I seek in any translation. After a search, I found references to humility multiple times throughout the Old and New Testament in every translation from King James to the Amplified version. It would be hard to miss humility while reading through the Bible! It would be hard for this little term to be glossed over by culture. But somehow, I never made the connection until I was much older. 

More than all these recorded Biblical instructions to humble ourselves, the Bible shows us the importance of humility with many stories. Jacob’s struggle with an angel, Sampson’s lack of humility right up until his humbling end and Joseph donning his flashy coat to end up touring of the bottom of a cistern are just a few that come to mind. But the most crystal clear Bible story highlighting the attitude of the heart is of the criminals dying on the cross to Jesus’ left and right as described in the book of Luke.

One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself-and us, too, while you’re at it!” But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 

Luke 23:39-43 NLT

This contrast of pride and humility can’t be overlooked and it can’t be minimized! Humility of the heart is required by God.

The Most Challenging Mission Field

 When I think of places that desperately need the word of Jesus I don’t think of the United States of America. And I never think of other prosperous countries. I think of those countries where people are living in poverty and have little to eat. I think of war zones with mass casualties. I think of countries with dictator leaders and violence everywhere. 

As Americans, we send bits of our wealth to help those living in poverty, thinking we will spread the gospel (of American prosperity) to those have-nots. Churches send out mission teams to foreign countries to help spread the gospel. What happens to those mission teams is that they come back changed. Not because of their great holiness or sacrificial spirit but because they see authentic faith in action unlike any they have ever witnessed at home. Many of those who go on their first mission trip crave another chance to return. And the reason is that they meet with church groups and experience something that isn’t readily found in our country. They see authentic faith in God. They see hope in the faces of those with nothing. 

Violence and poverty strips people of all their dependence on the idols of security and wealth. Mission teams come back with stories of the joy on the faces of those who don’t know when they will eat their next meal because their joy is found in their faith in God. This faith makes no promise to bring them wealth or security. Their faith is in looking to God for every. single. thing. 

This faith is alien and outlandish to us as Americans. All our lives we have seen faith as a thing you do on Easter and Christmas. It is something you print on a t-shirt. It is for those who are Jesus freaks. Many of us who attend church regularly, think faith is something we have to work to deserve and can be earned. We seldom feel it eeking out of our pores so abundantly that we find it difficult to suppress the joy. 

All this is not said to shame Americans for our prosperity because all good gifts do come from God. This is said to give us a global view of Christianity. God is not suppressed by poverty, boundaries or prison cells. In fact it seems the Holy Spirit is fired into flames in these conditions. It is most difficult to spread the gospel of hope where hope is found in possessing the next shiny thing or going on the next elaborate vacation. We Americans live in the most challenging mission field. 

What Makes the Difference?

 One of my favorite movies is It’s a Wonderful Life. I know I’m not alone in this since it is considered the number one Christmas movie of all time. Like George Bailey, I sometimes question the difference my life makes. And is there really any distinction between a life lived in faith and a life with no faith?

Since I was a small child, I have been a Christ follower so I have no idea what my life would have been without that faith. I would like to be able to peek at the life I would have lived without my faith in Christ but I am smart enough not to want to actually experience it. I know the story written of Scrooge and what he saw was scary! Unlike the fictional Scrooge or George Bailey character, we don’t have this opportunity to go back and see what could have been. 

The song Thank God, I Do by Lauren Daigle addresses the same sentiment.

I believe this passage that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth gives us an understanding of life with and without faith in Christ. 

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

2 Corinthians 4:7-9 NIV

Those with faith in God go through the same trouble as everybody else. We deal with opposition, slander, anxiety, suicide, depression, loss, tension, misunderstanding, and oppression just like those who do not have faith. Many Christians have been and are being tortured to their death. So what is the difference, pray tell? 

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With faith we have hope. Hope in the promises of God. One of his promises was that he would send us each the Holy Spirit to live our life with us. This Spirit is with us when we wake up, go to sleep and in all the boring stuff like washing dishes or taking out the trash. He is with us throughout this trek on earth. He speaks wisdom to our hearts and he points direction. It is our choice to listen and follow. No matter what scary moments this life on earth dish out, he is with us. When we tap into this power, we realize we are never abandoned and our spirit cannot be destroyed. We have hope in God’s promises of ultimate rescue when others go through this scary life without that hope. 

And he gives us love. It is the difference maker. Love is what helps us identify other Christians and know that we are not alone. God is love. And when we see love from a stranger or a friend we know we are seeing the fingerprint of God. God is the author of love. Without God, there would be no such thing as compassion, kindness,  patience, goodness, self-control, gentleness, peace and joy. When you meet a someone who has these expressions of love in their life, you are looking at a fellow child of God. Pay attention. Take note. Notice when you see these virtues. It will point you to a sister or brother in Christ who listens to the spirit within. (And the reverse is also true 😏, just saying.) 

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Know that all people will suffer injustice and loss. This life is hard for all of us. But the difference for those of us with faith is that we will never be abandoned and our soul will never be destroyed. We know from the promise of Jesus that this life is short and there will be a next life. This promise gives us peace in our hearts when the world around us may be falling apart. We know that the next life will be beautiful, satisfying and joyful. It is our treasure. This treasure is hope in the face of hopelessness and it makes all the difference. 

Looks Like Somebody Prayed

 When people say, “All we can do is pray” it bothers me. It is the best thing and the first thing we should do, not the last. What if you had a loving powerful confidante who cares for every little thing about your day—someone who would act on your requests in a surprising and efficient manner—someone who never got tired of your requests and stood by you in the most difficult of circumstances? Would you wait until you tried everything else before you ask him for help?

Here is what I have learned so far. You have to make the effort to get to know Him. You have to learn to recognize Him by his actions. You have to constantly seek his companionship because he isn’t pushy. He won’t step in and solve your issue unless you ask and believe that he can. And even when He solves those issues you have to pay attention or you will miss the opportunity to see what he has done. 

He will fix things in your life in his own way, which is not always your way, but is always in the best way. In some situations He carries you through the heartbreak. He is with you and he is developing your strength in this painful earth experience. Just focus on Him and you will realize you have made it through to the other side and are better for it. He is not a genie. He will not grant wishes. He is a BFF. He matures you. He makes you stronger. He always has your best at heart even when you cannot see it that way. 

Is there anything He won’t give you? Well, I think He will give you all you ask in his own time if it is asked in humility and in line with his heart. For example, if you ask for world peace he will surely give it to you but it is in his own time. He tells us in his Word that there will be wars and rumors of wars but he also tells us of a time when the wolf and lamb will graze together. So yes, he will answer that prayer for world peace, just probably not in the timing that we have in mind. To him, millennia are seconds on a clock. We cannot wrap our heads around how big He is. 

How do you get to know him? Pay attention. Yep, just pay attention. The best way to develop this sensitivity to His presence is to be grateful and read the stories written about Him. Realize that He created this universe and that everything amazing, creative and good, from laughter to coffee, comes from his hand. Everyday think of three new blessings for which He is responsible. (Although I thank Him for coffee everyday.) Give credit where credit is due. Develop that habit of gratitude. 

Next, when you ask him for something, watch for the answer. Don’t just set it down and run off and forget it. And don’t try to manipulate the answer. Trust me, I have tried this and it doesn’t work out. Let it go. It helps if you write down the request then go back and record how it was answered. Develop this habit. Again…pay attention to His work. Then praise Him for what he has done. 

Why am I so authoritative on this subject? Because He has answered my big and little prayers over and over again throughout my life! Oh, and sometimes he said no to my solution but he gave a far better one and I am so glad he did. It is only in the last twenty years of my life that I paid attention to what He is doing. I wish I had paid attention sooner. 

All Sheep

 Lately the news has been full of stories about religious leaders admitting that they have succumbed to sinful destructive acts. This should be a wake-up call to us all. Isaiah tells us that we are ALL like sheep who have gone astray. No exceptions for high community status, no one is immune. It could happen to any of us if…

We are slowly dissecting the familiar passage of the 23rd Psalm this summer in my church. The whole passage is based on the analogy of people being the sheep and God as the shepherd. Through this study I have learned so much about sheep and shepherds that I never knew. This morning, one new item stands out to me. Sheep get into trouble easily. The author, David, who was a career shepherd knew this well. That is why sheep need a shepherd.

Notice that there are two types of dangers out there for the sheep. There are the ones that are part of their environment like sickness, infections or breaking a leg and there are the ones they get themselves into by wandering off and falling prey to predators.

In our world today I so often forget about that second category. I minimize the predators. So often I pretend there is no enemy out to get me and regard any suggestion of that as silly. The enemy is discussed in the 23rd Psalm and he is real. He wants us to wander around on our merry path of ignorance and forget that he is there stalking us, waiting for a moment when we get out of sight of the shepherd. The wise sheep have a healthy fear of the enemy and confidence in their shepherd. All they have to do is stay close to the shepherd and they will be protected.

Some may see this as a life of fear but in reality it is a life of trust and wisdom. For a sheep to pretend there are no lions, wolves, and bears is foolish. For a sheep to believe it is invincible is folly. We live in a world with many wily predators. We need a good shepherd and we need to learn to carry on with our lives while always keeping Him in our sight.

But how? I see that it takes two mindsets. First, we must have faith in our Shepherd. We must see Him as willing and able to protect us from those predators. Remember how David killed the lions and bears? Even more powerful is our Heavenly Father. He is our Savior and he loves us dearly and cares for us.

But in addition to seeing that our good God is able to conquer any enemy, I must come to grips with the reality that I can easily lose my way and that I am a sheep just like everyone else on the evening news. It is when I begin to think I know more than the other sheep and trust my life to my own ability that I become vulnerable to attack. I must continually, humbly admit to myself that I am in need of the Shepherd. This will keep me within the length of the shepherd’s staff where I am safe from harm.

If it has been a while since you thoughtfully read the 23rd Psalm take the time to do so. It is so rich.

Psalm 23:1-6
The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Hope for the Hopeless

 I have no idea why you would go to hell in a handbasket. I could Google that but I’m pretty sure this is one of those old sayings that is has lost its context but kept its meaning. There have been periods of time in history where everything has gone to hell in a handbasket and one of those is recorded in the Old Testament. It comes from the prophet Jeremiah in the book of Lamentations.

At that time, Jeremiah clearly saw the bad choices of the Israelites and preached for them to stop their idol worship, turn to God and repent. Imagine how those prophets who kept warning the Israelites felt when all their pleas fell on deaf ears. They witnessed it as people ignored their warnings and continued depending on everything but God to deliver them. They watched the inevitable results of bad choices unfold around them. Read Lamentations 1-2 for details. But be warned, it is not PG rated! To summarize it, Jerusalem was defeated and many survivors were carried off to exile. That was surely “hell in a handbasket”.

The natural human thought process at that point would be to dwell on the injustices. They would roll around and around in their minds without any effort, replaying the scene time and time again. But somehow, out of this devastation and hopelessness, some the most hopeful words of the Bible are written down. According to Jeremiah, he called them to mind. That must have taken effort and a Higher Power to think about the faithfulness of God in those horrible circumstances. But he did it.

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And here are Jeremiah’s beautiful words:

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Lamentations 3:19-26 NIV

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I find that I remember scripture so much better when it is set to music. Here is a song inspired by this passage. Listen and you can hear Jeremiah’s words ring through.

So to defeat depression over things going awry, we have instructions from the Prophet Jeremiah. Call these words to mind. Repeat them. Sing this song loudly even if you can’t sing anything like CeCe or Carrie. Great is thy faithfulness oh God, my Father!

Preparation, Preparation, Preparation

 Is it easier to trust God when you are living in abundance or when you are living in poverty? The obvious answer is that it is easier to trust God when you have plenty. However, I wonder if that is true. 

In the story of the widow of Zarephath found in 1 Kings 17:7-24, she is gathering sticks to fuel her last meal for her and her son when this cheeky prophet comes up and asks her to use the last of her flour to make him a loaf of bread first. And she does! This is so hard for me to wrap my head around while sitting in my warm house with a full pantry. She was practicing faith when she had no physical evidence that God cared for her. 

I have often heard of or read about people in poverty who are generous beyond comprehension. Poverty seems to give a perspective that plenty cannot see. In times of extreme difficulty people seem to have a clearer view of the Father. The connection somehow becomes stronger and more real. This leads me to my next line of thinking. Must I suffer to learn to trust God? I really don’t want to! 

Then I jerk myself back into reality and remember that we will all suffer at some point in our life. It is a reality of living in our frail bodies in a world of hardship. But it is not the hardship itself that makes us more connected to God, it is the preparation of our hearts that opens the boundary to God’s presence in those inevitable difficulties. The suffering isn’t what produces faith, it simply magnifies the faith we already have developed. We can know that when the time comes, if we choose it, we will experience a broader Divine connection.

We are not told in the Bible, but I’m willing to bet that the widow of Zarephath prepared her heart by choosing to seek God when she was happily married and living a life of plenty. I am basing that wager on my experience. When I practice freaking out over the little issues of my day, I freak out when the big issues arise. Just like in emergency medical training, they practice keeping a cool head when there is no emergency in order to be able to rely on that training in the real thing. Trusting God does not ordinarily come out of the blue. Like other attributes, it usually follows an organic pathway of practice and development over time.

So what should we be doing to prepare our hearts to receive this connection when we inevitably experience hardship? Actively seek Him. Seeking is not passive. As Priscilla Shirer states in her book, The Armor of God, it is “meditating on God’s word, internalizing its principles and implementing them in your life”. And meanwhile we should be comforted to know that no matter the circumstances, our God will hold us. By the way, the widow’s story ends well. Her jar of flour and oil miraculously do not run out day after day. God provides.

Trivial Little Prayers

 Because I am a cynic, I have made fun of people(occasionally out loud) who pray about every little thing. Lord, what should I wear? Should I go to the store? Should I make my bed? Should I call or text? I think, “they are so needy; so co-dependent.” But isn’t becoming dependent on God the goal of any Christ follower? Faith and belief are indeed close cousins to dependence. Could this practice be a big step toward God?

So I am giving it a whirl. It is my new experiment in the pursuit of Christ-likeness. I am trying to make my prayers less about curing cancer and more about the daily trivia that so often holds my mind at ransom, remembering that faith is the goal. Hoping that by coming to Him with all things, I will create a habit of dependence. And because the fears of yesterday are forgotten by new anxiety of today, I thought I would record my trivial requests. That way I can go back the next day and see how God has answered and thank Him for how he provided. Because I know God is good, I know this will be a win-win by creating both faith and gratitude.

I love trying experiments. Who says a there can’t be a scientific approach to following Christ?

Philippians 4:6-7 Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Photo by Richard Jaimes

The Best Kept Secret of Sharing Our Faith

 Recently there was an unusual situation where my heart burned to talk to someone about Christ but was not able to in this particular situation. I won’t go into the details here, but it was quite challenging to speak truth over desperation without referencing words from my faith. It made me wonder how people share their faith in places where they can’t freely quote scripture or speak the name of Jesus or God. Is there an effective way to preach the goodness of God and use no words?

It is said that living out your belief is so much bigger than mere words. And this isn’t said to chain us to rule-following performance. Performances are just that. They have an end. We can behave ourselves for only so long because we are easily broken and our real heart eventually shows. We are simply clay vessels. So how can clay pots show Jesus to a broken world other than rule-following and scripture quoting? How can we be transformed from clay to the embodiment of Christ so that we naturally reflect his glory? This scripture from Paul to the Corinthian church teaches how this is done. I love this translation by Eugene Peterson in The Message Bible.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 MSG. Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are-face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

We must develop a closeness to God to reflect his glory. We cannot show Christ-likeness by that old constricting, rule-following lifestyle. And that is such a relief! That is true freedom! To me, this says that the only thing we need to do is to encounter God personally and frequently in a relationship. Also note that this change from clay to Christ-likeness is gradual, not a one-and-done thing.

How do we encounter God? It is really quite simple. If we know how to make friends, we know how to encounter God. And just like making friends, we have to push past the awkward and put ourselves out there. Unlike people, God never rejects those who want to be with him. To develop any relationship, we must let go of some things on our calendar and schedule regular time to be together. If we give God our precious time we will have the privilege of a growing relationship with him.

There are many books written about ways to encounter God but the most noted way is solitude and Bible reading. One thing is for sure: there is no specific place, time or method to experiencing God’s presence. If your mind is on things above, you are opening the door to let God in.

I have noticed that by removing hurry from my life’s equation there are so many more chances to encounter God. And the best way to do that is to schedule in “margin”. Margin is time in your day with nothing scheduled. Margin can also be one lovely day of the week where you ditch all your obligations. This isn’t a new concept. You will find it in those Ten Commandments. (We often think of it as nine commandments and one Sabbath suggestion.) It is the one commandment we feel free to break without being fired from our job or reprimanded in any way. Jesus often took the time to retreat to a quiet place to talk to His Father, yet he accomplished changing the world in three short years so surely we could take ten minutes a day in our busy schedule to be still. And in addition, maybe we can learn to take one day a week without work or phone obligations.

We think to become more like Christ we must add to our calendar. But in reality, we were never asked to check items off of a list to become like Christ. Counterintuitively, we must let go of our perfect performance to reflect his glory to a broken world. To become a vessel of Christ, is to relax and take time to encounter Him.

Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face.

The Message

 

Choose Hope

 I’m a mess. There, I said it. I struggle with issues like anger and fear. To top it off, I am a control freak. It is so hard for me just to stand down. And I find myself in a world that has lost love, kindness, sanity and is full of greed and depravity.

But…

I have hope and hope makes all the difference! My hope is in Christ. God wants to save us from our own destruction because He created us and loves us. He created us with the freedom to choose. All we have to do is believe and trust what He said. He said that God created everything and then sent His Son, Jesus, to earth to live in the flesh among us. And that Jesus was crucified over 2000 years ago on a real Roman cross to his death and that His body was buried in a real tomb and three days later He rose to life in the flesh. He returned to heaven after leaving behind the Spirit form of God to help us grow as believers. And He said that on a day that we have no idea about, Jesus will come again and gather up all of the dead believers and those believers left on earth and take us to live in an unimaginably beautiful place with Him to live a totally fulfilling existence without pain and death. And in this lies all my hope.

Here are the words of Jesus explaining to a guy named Nicodemus, who wanted to know why the Son of God came to earth to live as a human among us.

John 3:16-17 AMP
"For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world, that He even gave His One and only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him as Savior shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world, but that the world might be saved through Him”.

So He clearly lobbed the ball into our court. We each must choose to participate by belief and trust. We must choose to volley our thoughts and beliefs daily with Him or to walk off and leave Him. But if we participate, we become the recipients of grace for all the messing up that we have done, are doing, and will do.

It is this hope that keeps me looking to God. My hope keeps me talking to him. My hope holds me up when the world knocks me down and consequently, love and compassion grow where there was none before. Everyday my hope is in Christ. Everyday I talk to Him about letting go of my anger, fear and control issues and I see that He is making improvement in spite of me. So I have hope for a bright future knowing someday, all these issues will be a thing of the past.

If you haven’t made this choice and want to, simply tell God in a humble prayer that you choose this hope and believe in your heart that He will do what He says He will do. If you have this relationship with God, may you find a way to share it with those who want it.

Photo by Laurissa Noack