“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23, NIV84)

We face so many challenges in this life. There are so many things that occur that attack our sense of security. At times, it is hard to find hope. Sometimes the hurt, devastation, and pain get so great that there is nothing else we can see.  We find ourselves like Job, amidst all the pain and suffering, stating “I wish I had never been born.”  Indeed, there are times in this life when hopelessness seems to be the only option. We, like Jesus’ disciples, are on a boat that is going down in the storm and that is all there is.  But is this true? Could our senses be deceiving us? Could our eyes of sight be lying to us? On the boat with the disciples is Jesus. Yes, He is asleep, and it appears that He is useless for the situation. But when He is awakened, He does the most amazing thing. He calms the storm. He doesn’t just assure the disciples that they will get through the storm. He stops the storm. Amidst Job’s helpless cries for meaning and purpose for his suffering, God speaks not of Job’s suffering but of Himself. He reminds Job of who He is and all of a sudden Job’s suffering is viewed within a different context. Job wanted to put an exclamation point at the end of His introspective analysis of his life and God would not let him. God seems to always be telling us that there is more–more than our physical eyes and mind will allow us to see.  It is at these times that true hope is defined.

During times of trials and suffering there is one thing that we must do.  We must “unswervingly” hold to our hope in a God who is faithful to His promises.  We must not become overwhelmed by the winds and the waves around us.  We must see all that is happening around us in the context that there is a God who knows and is available.  We must “fix our eyes” on Jesus.  We must do more than look with our eyes.  We must look through our eyes as we interpret the world around us.  We must look with eyes of faith even during the most painful times. Why? Because if we don’t, we will miss the moment when God faithfully fulfills His promise to us.  We must hold on unswervingly to this truth about God.  We must not allow ourselves to become so distracted by our circumstances that we miss seeing the One who can touch and change our circumstances.

Today, may our hold on Jesus be unswervingly secure.

Peace!

Pastor Tom

www.firmlyrooted.church