Day 277 Hope Mounts

October 8, 2015
Day 277

We often see hope as a quantity, a mountain we start with and each new and troubling event erodes it little by little. Our fear is that we will end up with a shovel full of bits and fragments at the end of our life due to all the sadness and misfortune we experience. A broken relationship, a missed opportunity, a misunderstanding, the loss of a loved one, these are the enemies. The subtle destroyers of the mountain are intruders, encroaching on peace, piece by piece.

Scripture uncovers lies that the enemy wants us to believe. In Romans chapter five we see an eternal truth - hope is not destroyed, hope mounts. My mind and spirit explode with this revelation. Just like you can bet on the law of gravity, so it is with the law of mounting hope.

In Romans chapter five there is a progression that gives a clear word picture. A series of unfortunate events builds a mountain of hope. The God of the universe endorses recycling and uses every sad and unfortunate moments for the glory of God and edification of the believer.

From the tranlsation of the Message it reads like this:

3-5...."We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

6-8 Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him."

There is nothing more to say but - persevere! It might not get better but it's all for our best.