Hope for Life Blog

Dr. Arthur John Gossip was a minister who had preached many sermons, but none like this one. The day before, his wife had collapsed and died suddenly. Now he stood in the pulpit of the Beechgrove Church in Aberdeen, Scotland, speaking on the subject “But When Life Tumbles In, What Then?” In the midst of his pain, he spoke words of hope to his congregation.

In reflecting on his loss Gossip said, “I do not understand this life of ours. But still less can I comprehend how people in trouble and loss and bereavement can fling away peevishly from the Christian faith. In God’s name, fling to what? Have we not lost enough without losing that too?” Later he explained, “You people,” says Gossip, “in the sunshine may believe the faith, but we in the shadow must believe it. We have nothing else.”

It’s never easy for one who stands in the sunshine, as Gossip put it, to speak to those in the shadow. Any words that are spoken ring hollow and empty. If you are walking in the shadow of loss or illness or financial strain, you may find it hard to listen to those who would speak to you of hope. You need to hear from those who know life’s dark side. One place to do that is here on HopeforLife.org. On this website, you will find the stories of people like Arthur John Gossip who found themselves in the shadow but now walk in the sunshine. People who faced life’s most extreme moments and came out with faith in God.

Gossip ended his sermon with these words:

“I don’t think you need to be afraid of life. Our hearts are very frail, and there are places where the road is very steep and very lonely, but we have a wonderful God. And, as Paul puts it, ‘What can separate us from his love? Not death,’ he writes immediately. No, not death, for standing in the roaring of the Jordan, cold with its dreadful chill and very conscious of it terror, of its rushing, I, too, like Hopeful in Pilgrim’s Progress, can call back to you who one day in your turn will have to cross it, ‘Be of good cheer, my brother, for I feel the bottom and it is sound.’”

Explore HopeForLife.org and hear the voices of others who echo Gossip’s words: “I feel the bottom and it is sound.”

I recently spent three days fishing with my son at a lake famous for its large bass. We had a great time and caught lots of fish. As we visited with the other fisherman, we realized we also caught more big bass than anyone else. However, there was one oddly embarrassing fact we discovered. We lost more plastic worms than anyone else. We hung them on trees, rocks, and logs. Sometimes we had to break them off, sometimes they were simply unreachable.

We cast those worms into places where it was very difficult for us to see. It was not easy or comfortable. It cost us a number of plastic worms to fish where we did. We could have fished the easy places and still caught a number of fish. So why take the hard and difficult way? Because that was where the fish we wanted to catch were located. We followed a simple rule: to catch big fish, you need to be where they are. So we fished in the hard to get to places, the places others did not go.

It occurs to me that is exactly what God did when he wanted to “catch” me. He sent his Son Jesus into the hard place to find me. It was difficult and it was costly. God is holy and perfect. I am not. There are so many things I should have done and did not; so many things I should not have done, and did. So God sent his perfect Son to where I live so he could find me. Jesus left heaven so he could find me. He died so my failures would not be held against me, and I could live forever in the presence of God and his son.

I am so grateful that God took the initiative to come after me. He found me. He caught me. I am so grateful that I will spend the rest of my life “fishing” for others so they can know the good news that God sent his Son… to catch them.

I like to try new foods. When I travel to another country, I’m always interested in sampling the local fare. If I have a chance to eat something that other people eat and like, I want to take that opportunity. I’m a natural-born taste tester.

I know other people who are exactly the opposite. One friend traveled to another country on his honeymoon and ate every meal at McDonald’s. Another always wants to know the ingredients of a dish before he takes a bite, trying to judge beforehand if he wants to risk experiencing the unknown. The worst case I’ve known was a woman who lived overseas and told me, “I don’t invite the locals to eat at my house, because then they’d invite me, and I might have to eat something I don’t like.” Needless to say, her stay in that country was short and unhappy.

While I hope you’re the kind of person who is adventuresome in their eating, I really hope that you are the kind of person who keeps an open mind regarding God and what he can do for you. In the book of Psalms in the Bible, we can read, “[blue]Taste and see that the Lord is good[/blue]” (Psalms 34:8). That’s a taste test that I know you should do. Don’t rely on what other people tell you about God. Don’t even rely on what I tell you about God. Lay aside preconceived notions and taste God. Try his plan for you. God can give you meaning in your life, provide you hope in the midst of despair, and show you a lifestyle that you can be proud of. But you’ve got to taste him. You’ve got to give God’s way a try. Only then can you know if God is good or not.

“Saved alone. What shall I do?” Those were the chilling words Horatio Spafford read in the telegram from his wife. It was November, 1873. Anna Spafford had been traveling to Europe with the four Spafford children; Mr. Spafford was to join them later. The ship the family was traveling on, the Ville du Havre, was rammed by a British iron sailing ship, the Lockhearn. Mrs. Spafford was rescued by the Lockhearn, but the four children were taken by the waves.

Mr. Spafford was a prosperous lawyer and real estate developer in Chicago until his fortunes were reduced to ashes by the Great Fire of 1871. Still reeling from that financial disaster, now Spafford faced an even greater crisis. He was a man of faith, but these were times that would try even the greatest saint.

Making the Atlantic crossing to join his wife, Spafford was shown the location of the wreck that had cost him his children. Reflecting on that moment, he wrote his wife’s half-sister saying “On Thursday last we passed over the spot where she went down, in mid-ocean, the waters three miles deep. But I do not think of our dear ones there. They are safe, folded, the dear lambs.”

During the crossing, Spafford sat and wrote the words to one of the best-loved songs of all times. The first verse reads:

When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot
Thou hast taught me to say
“It is well with my soul.”

It’s an amazing story. Most of us would have trouble reacting in such a way. When faced with loss, when dealing with grief, the common reaction is to fall back on self-pity. What enabled Spafford to respond as he did? Faith. Spafford believed that death was not the end for his dear children. He believed that the grave was a stopping point, not a destination. To him, his children lay, not beneath the cold waters, but folded safe in the arms of Jesus.

Without God, such hope is not possible. Without God, death is the end. But God has overcome death, through the history-changing resurrection of his son. We can read in the New Testament: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).

Do you have this hope? Do you share this faith? If not, let me tell you about the God that can fill you with peace in the most trying of times, that can trace a path of hope through the darkest hour.

I recently read an interview with a professional football player where he was asked about a dropped pass. I was glad they asked him about it. He is paid a lot of money to catch passes. He is a professional. He is not supposed to drop passes. I have seen athletes who blame the passer, or the weather, of use other excuses. I have even heard athletes say it is no big deal to miss one pass – no one catches everything. This athlete said he should have caught it, he was going to work harder in practice, and he would concentrate even harder so he would never drop another pass. I imagine he will drop another one at some point in his career, but I sure liked his attitude. I am now a fan of his, and I want his team to do well.

I found myself applying these principles to Christians who sin. We are not supposed to sin. We are supposed to be different. We claim to be, we ought to be, and we want to be. Yet sometimes we drop the ball spiritually. I am convinced that is when our true credibility is established. Christians are not perfect. We sin and make mistakes. The test of our faith and the authenticity of our belief will be seen in how we respond to those sins.

Authentic Christians do not make excuses. They are sorry, ashamed, and hurt when they do things not in harmony with their convictions. They pledge to do better, they take corrective action, and they seek forgiveness. Real Christians are not hypocrites because they sin. They are hypocritical if they fail to deal with it.

If you have been hesitant to “buy into” the idea of Jesus because of what some of his followers have done, I urge you to look a little deeper. We are not perfect, we sometimes make mistakes, and we betray our principles sometimes. But your decision about Jesus is not based on what any Christian has done. It needs to be based on what Jesus has done.

So I am asking you to look past our failures. We are not yet what we want to be. But because of Jesus, we are being changed. We are becoming more like him and less like this world.

What do you think about Christians and sin? Does the way a Christian deal with personal sin validate Christianity in your eyes or does it invalidate the Christian’s credibility?

It was a duck hunting trip gone bad. It happened one Thanksgiving several years ago. Mark, a close family friend, my son (then around eleven years old), and I were hunting on land owned by some of Mark’s family. It was full of creeks and sloughs, and Mark had hunted on it for years. It was a fairly warm afternoon when we started out, and we were able to shoot several ducks. It was late afternoon when the storm blew in: torrential rain and a rapid drop in temperature.

I had not thought much about that day in several years. But when Mark called the other day and mentioned it… all the memories came flooding back. I remember how dark it immediately got, and how wet we were. I remember worrying about how cold we were getting. The creek quickly overflowed and in just a few minutes, we were in trouble. We had gotten lost. Darkness took away the landmarks, rain obscured everything, and the overflowing water all looked the same.

We had decided that if we could not find the trail back to camp, we would dig in under some leaves, put my son between us and hope to survive the night. We thought we were close to finding the way out but it was too dark and too hard to see. We had just decided to give up and try to ride out the storm when a lightening bolt split the sky. And there it was… the trail was not fifteen yards in front of us. We still had a rough time getting out; we had some creeks to wade, and a hard walk… but we made it out alive and we survived.

We were asking God’s help and protection. And we give God the credit for the lightening bolt that showed us the way home. I believe it is by His mercy that we survived. But there are lessons I need to remember about my relationship with God that I learned in that storm. There are lessons about life I need to remember.

It was my fault we got caught in that storm. I did not check the weather report, we did not dress appropriately, and I did not have matches, compass, or flashlight. Life is like that sometimes. Storms come when we do not expect them. And they come when we are not prepared for them. Many times I have to face the fact that the storms of life are my fault. I don’t always think things through, I am not always prepared, and I do not see trouble coming.

Yet God delivered me. He did it on that day, but even more amazing, he has delivered me in life. I have hope, joy, peace, and purpose because God has chosen to save me. Storms still come in my life, just like they do in yours. I face them with confidence because I trust God to deliver me safe. He has before, and He will again.

So how about you? Do you have questions about how God’s deliverance works? Have you seen it in your life? Let me hear what you think.

He was a great athlete: all state in football and recruited to play baseball at a major university. He had been around Christians and church all of his life but never really connected. While in college, he had some injury problems that resulted in reliance on medication that eventually led to substance abuse. He returned home a shell of the man he used to be. He was a wreck physically and emotionally.

Someone suggested that he come visit with me, and he did. Over time, I shared the good news of Jesus with him. We talked about the God who made him and loved him. We talked about what a mess his life was…right after we talked about how I had made a mess of my life. I shared the amazing story of God’s own Son coming to live among us. I told of the sinless Savior who died for our sins. We talked about the relationship with Jesus that brings us into the family of God.

I shared the call of Jesus to come and die with him, to share in his death and resurrection. But he was not ready. He spent almost one year processing the good news of Jesus. He had to realize he could not make his life work on his own. He began to watch his own family try to live out their faith. He started dating a Christian woman. He visited worship often.

Then one night it all clicked. I wish I could tell you it was my preaching, but I think it just all finally made sense. He decided to give his life to Jesus in baptism. He got ready, and then couldn’t get in the water. He could not go through with it. After about one hour, we got to the root of the problem. He just could not accept the fact that God could forgive someone as who had messed up as much as he had.

And that was when I knew he was about to get it. That is why it is good news…and it is true. It does not matter what you have done, or how bad you have been. No one is good enough to save themselves anyway. So Jesus did it for us.

So what do you think? Is it too good to be true? Have you ever wondered about it? Why is it so hard to accept?

And by the way, this young man did get it, we did baptize him, and he is my brother.

It’s true. Repair men love me, at least the ones who charge by the hour. Any one hour repair job can become a four hour job at my house. The reason is always the same: before I call the repair experts, I fix it myself. So the one hour job is now complicated by the two hours of work to undo my repair.

By now you may think I am an idiot. My wife would sometimes agree. Why waste so much time and effort on what is obviously a doomed attempt to fix something myself. I really have no expertise to apply to most of my do it yourself efforts. The manufacturer obviously has specifications and procedures for their product. You would think my track record would even discourage me from future efforts.

So why do I keep attempting to repair appliances, cars, and house problems myself? Am I too proud, too stubborn, or too ignorant? Maybe I just like the idea of being in control. I know it will not turn out well, but I do it anyway. It will be time consuming, expensive, frustrating, and stressful.

Maybe this is a metaphor for life. Why are so compelled to try to fix things in our life by ourselves? Most of us have a track record that proves we do not do well when we are in charge. So many things are out of our control anyway. Yet we persist in believing we can fix things. We do it as mates, parents, and friends.

There is someone who can repair broken lives. God made us and he knows how we work best. He even gave us a repair manual that explains our relationship with him. He knows what he is doing. I have seen the results in my life and in others. And I have seen the results of our efforts to fix things.

I don’t know everything that is wrong in your life, but I do know who can fix it. What do you think? Does God repair broken lives and broken relationships?

I live in Texas in the northern hemisphere. Here, springtime is just beginning. For fifteen years of my life, I lived in Argentina in the southern hemisphere where at this time of the year they are moving into autumn. It takes time to become used to the differences. For example, when people in the United States want to talk about something that is extremely unlikely, they say, “It’ll be a cold day in July before that happens.” To which many of our southern hemisphere friends reply, “Most July days are cold.”

It’s my experience that all of life is this way. While some people are living in the sunshine, others are living in moments of darkness. I have a vivid memory of the night that my son was born. At the hospital, I was in the lobby using a pay phone to tell my in-laws the news that a delivery was imminent. (This was in the dark ages, in the 1990s, when people didn’t carry cell phones.) As I shared with them this message of joy, a family burst onto the scene, obviously distraught. One of the young men picked up a large piece of furniture and started to hurl it across the room before someone stopped him. It was a scene of grief that stood in stark contrast with the joyful moments that I was living. That’s how life is. Some rejoice while others weep. Some receive while others lose.

Just as the earth moves and the seasons change, so sorrow and joy ebb and flow throughout all of humanity. If we live long enough, we will have moments of great happiness and we will have moments of great hurt. Our circumstances will change from year to year and even from day to day. Some of us will experience more suffering than others, yet we all will pass through those hard times.

I want to invite you to watch some of the videos on our website, HopeForLife.org. These videos tell of people who faced moments of pain and loss, hard times and difficult days, yet who came through it all with hope. They did so not because of their own specialness, but because of the God who saw them through those times with an unending hope. Along with the videos, you can read articles that speak of hope and how to find it.

If you’re in a moment of pain, I hope you’ll take the time to hear some words of hope. If you are living through a good time, I hope you’ll take the time to prepare yourself for the not-so-good times. As always, I’d love to hear from you.

Remington is my Golden Retriever, and we have a good life together. I know it sounds odd to some of you, but we really have a good relationship. I take care of him. I have since he was a puppy. I provide shelter, food, and watch out for him in ways he does not even understand. I really do love him. I look forward to seeing him when I come home and I enjoy being around him.

I also should confess that I like the way he treats me. He adores me. I can see it in his eyes. I can do no wrong. He completely trusts in the fact that I will take care of him and do what is best for him. He is so excited to see me when I get home. His tail wags so hard he shakes all over. Sometimes he even has to bark just to let me know how happy he is.

Remington is completely devoted to me. By extension, he is completely devoted to my wife, to my grandkids, and to anyone I let in the house. He is protective of our house. He even warns the birds and squirrels to stay away. He would do anything I ask him to do. He would die for me.

I know he is not my equal. He cannot even think on my level. I doubt he understands why he has to stay in a backyard. Yet he minds me. He is not a perfect dog. Sometimes he needs a little correction and a little discipline. But he is my dog, and I love him.

It occurs to me that Remington has helped me understand my relationship with God. I am Remington and God is my master. He takes care of me, provides for me, disciplines me for my good, and loves me unconditionally. He is so far superior to me that I do not even recognize it sometimes.

And I can learn from Remington how to treat my Master: with love, adoration, obedience, and trust.

It is a dog’s life, and I would say that Remington and I both have it better than we deserve.

So what lessons about God have you learned from your dog? Or what lesson would you like to learn?