Steps to Hope

“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:3-5).

Hello, my friend.

Driving back from the VA hospital today, I heard an awesome message on the steps of hope. I will not even try to emulate or repeat what this pastor preached. The fact is, I don’t even know who he was. But it got me thinking. And that is why we need to hear, from time-to-time, from different voices. Each brings a different flavor or viewpoint on a familiar passage of scripture, and we can all learn something from one another if we are open.

Basically, his central theme was that we don’t go straight from tribulation to hope. I had never really thought about it, to be honest, but he pointed out that you cannot have hope you have experience. You cannot have experience unless you have patience, and you cannot learn patience unless you face trials and tribulations. There are stages to our Christian growth we must go through. It stinks, but that is the reality.

I have mentioned it before, but prayer lines are full of people who want instant answers to prayer. They want healed, but they want it NOW. They want delivered, but they want delivered NOW. On and on the requests pour in – mostly unanswered – because we are looking for a quick-fix for a long-standing problem that we may or may not have brought on ourselves. For example, we may want God to heal us of lung cancer, but we won’t quit smoking. I’m not saying God WON’T heal in that situation, I’m just saying that He is looking for more than just a healed and whole smoker going around telling about how good He is. Note John 9 where Jesus told the woman taken in the act of adultery, “Go and sin no more.”

There is something to be said of long-term relationships – which is exactly what God wants of us. I have earthly friends whom I have known for 30, 40, and 50 years or longer, and I wouldn’t trade those friendships for anything. Are they all like me? I would hope not! I have Catholics among my friends, I have Lutherans in my friends, I have Baptists, Pentecostals, Church of God, you name it. I even have a couple of atheists that are my friends. They respect my faith and keep watering the seeds that have already been sown into their lives.

That seems to be the message Paul was trying to get through to the church at Rome in our passage today. This Christian walk isn’t a “one-and-done” thing. You can’t just walk the aisle of some church, repeat a prayer after the preacher, sign a membership card, and it’s taken care of. Living for Christ is a life-long commitment. I have always said that dying for Christ is easy compared to living for Him. Dying for Christ, in many cases, is a matter of a public confession of faith followed by an execution. It’s all over rather quickly. Living for Him takes forever. Literally!

Living for Jesus involves a process of growth, of learning, of sacrificing, of change. In the beginning, of course, everything is sunshine and roses: you are in your honeymoon phase. But all too soon, Satan comes with a sickness, divorce, financial stress, or whatever. Now comes the beginning of tribulation. Tribulation is defined as a tight place, a squeezing event. This becomes a birthing place – where we pass from infancy into a new phase of growth. And so it goes with each stage of development. As we pass through each one, however, we begin to have patience – for we have new life, new vision, new energy when it’s over. With wisdom we begin to develop patience. As we encounter and overcome each tribulation with patience, we develop knowledge (and wisdom). After we have gone through these a few times, we learn to have hope. Not just hope for the moment, but eternal hope: the hope that God is and will be faithful in all things unto the end. That hope gives us assurance – it removes all shame and fear, for we know. We simply know. At that point, we can echo the words of Paul: “Death has been swallowed up in victory!”

Now we can understand who James, the brother of Jesus and author of the book by his name, can tell us to count it all joy when we fall into divers temptations. He went on to record the same steps of growth that lead us to hope. Today, my friend, whatever challenges you may face, I encourage you to remember these words of both Paul and James. I won’t say you will want to jump up and down, shout and sing, when troubles come, but I can direct you to turn your eyes toward Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith, and begin to give Him glory in all things. By so doing, we are allowing the Father to make us more into the image of His Son. It will be worth it all.

Be blessed.