Hope for Life Blog

I was helping clean up my sister-in-law’s yard after a recent wind storm when it happened.  The neighbor’s dog got me.  I knew he was not happy with the chain saw, the activity, and the work going on.  After all, he kept barking at us.  I was carrying a load of wood to the back gate, walking about one foot inside the fence.  All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of this dog trying to jump over the fence.  As I jumped sideways, he managed to extend his head over the fence and catch my arm.

There was not any lasting damage.  My arm was swollen and stayed bruised for a couple of weeks.  The dog was as surprised as I was.  My father-in-law worried about whether the dog should have gotten shots.  Ha, ha.  The neighbors were apologetic.  The yard got cleaned up, and we all stayed several feet away from the fence.

And I thought about how much like life this was.

We all know there are dangerous things in this world.  There is war, crime, and evil.  People steal, lie, gossip, and murder in our world.  We just do not expect it to happen to us.  Until it does.  Tornados, fires, hurricanes, and tsunamis occur around the globe.  We assume those things happen to other people, not us.  Until it does.  We even know intellectually that people get sick, sometimes even sick enough that they die.  We just do not think it will happen to us.  Until it does.

Hard things, bad things, tough things happen.  They happen unexpectedly.  Sometime it is our fault.  Sometimes it is someone else’s fault.  Sometimes it is no one’s fault.  Life happens.  Life goes on.  So how do we cope?  How do we survive?  How do we find hope, peace, joy, and purpose in a world like this?

I have found the answer in God, and so have millions of others throughout the ages.  He will get me through anything this life throws at me.  He has, and He will.  He gives my life hope, peace, joy, and purpose.  And He gives me life forever.  He has done this through His Son Jesus. 

Blessings,

steve

My wife recently had me help her clean out our garage and I was amazed.  I carried off old, used up furniture that was no longer usable.  I threw away toys that were no longer played with and lots of … well, junk.  But I remembered when some of that furniture was new.  I can remember saving up and being so proud when we bought the item that was going to be just perfect for our house.  And now it is not.  I remember when the toys were absolutely the must have item on the Christmas and birthday wish list.  I smiled when I remembered the fun times watching my children play with them.  Now nobody wants them.  The junk I was carting away was something that at one time we thought we needed – or wanted.  Not now.

At first I objected to getting rid of them because I remembered how special they had been.  Of course, I know they cannot last forever.  No toy does.  Neither does furniture.  They are not designed to last forever.  They do not last.  They are like everything else in this world.  They have a limited shelf life. 

As I thought about it, I realized the memories were not so much about the items themselves.  It was what they represented:  good times with family and friends.  I did not mind getting rid of the things so much when it dawned on me I would always have my family.  My kids are grown and their grandparents are getting old.  Now my wife and I have grandchildren.  We are buying toys that will be thrown out someday.  But our family will be together forever.  That is the special blessing for those of us that believe in Jesus.  He died so we could live.  Forever.  My family believes that.

Cleaning out the garage reminded me of what does – and what does not – last forever.  It reminded me of what is – and is not – really important.  It helped me to remember to focus on what matters.  If you would like to know about families that last forever, I can help you.  If you want to know that you will last forever, I would enjoy visiting with you.  You are not junk.  You are special, and you can know that.

Blessings,

steve

 My dog Lucky and I recently spent some time together at obedience school.  I thought we were going so Lucky could learn something about minding me, but the instructor spent most of his time training me.  He explained that even though Lucky was a great dog, he really did not know what was best for him.  Without me, he will go places that are dangerous, stick his nose into places that are not healthy, and maybe even starve to death.  So it is important for Lucky to know that obeying me will be the best thing for him.

Our instructor talked about the fact that Lucky must know the safest place in the world is at my side.  He needs to know that I will protect him, provide for him, and care for him.  His life is best when he follows and minds me.  We spent most of our time helping me understand how to train Lucky to know these things.  Lucky actually is doing very well after his training.  And I learned about my relationship with God.  I don’t think the instructor intended it to be that way, but it was.

I know my life is better with God.  He will protect me, feed me, and care for me.  I have tried to handle my own life and I end up in places that are not good for me.  On my own, I realize that maybe I don’t know what is best for me.  Life is hard.  This world is scary, and there are so many things that I cannot control.  Left on my own, I will mess things up.  Even worse, when I mess them up, I can’t fix them.

So I need God.  I need to follow Him.  I need to obey Him.  I need to learn that life works when I accept Him as my Master.  I believe that to be true for all of us.  God made us, knows us, loves us, and wants what is best for us.  When I forget this, life gets more confusing and difficult.  When I remember it, I find peace, joy, hope, and purpose.

Lucky learned his lesson:  life is better when he obeys his Master.  I learned my lesson too:  life is better when I obey my Master.  It can work for you too.

“Must, must, must – all of us get in our minds that this world is not our home, and that life, at best, is transitory.”

The email from a friend of forty years was prompted by his just finding out that another long time friend was diagnosed with cancer and the future was clouded at best. Things change when we realize our time is short. Oh, I know we cavalierly say that we’re all terminal, it’s just a matter of when we die not if. Yet, bravado usually is short lived when the real end is near.

As believers in an Almighty God we mentally, sometimes verbally, and even on rare occasions orally acknowledge the faith we confidently hope to see His face in heaven as promised in Revelation 22:4.

Yet we live our lives as if our earthly existence is the only place we’ll ever live. We are supposed to be in the world but not of the world. As followers of the Messiah, we are to be different, with our focus on heaven. Not on a car, a job, or a house in the “good” neighborhood.

I am reminded of the words Albert Brumley penned in 1937:

This world is not my home, I’m just passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.

The images of being pilgrims, strangers, wanderers in this world are in both the Old and New Testaments. That the journey is not complete until we are with Jehovah Raffa as described in Revelation 21. So what about the here and now? How do we exist on this side of Heaven? The words of Jesus reverberate through the centuries: “I have given them Your Word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” John 17: 14-15.

It seems most opportune that as a new year begins, we must recalibrate our perspectives and live as if we truly believe that “life, at best, is transitory” and being with God is where we want to live.

So how do we recalibrate? How do you prepare to be a pilgrim in a land that is not your home? What does that really mean? Yeah I got the questions, it’s the answers that keep me searching. Let me know what you think.