Make the Unbearable Miraculous
Donna & I always said we wanted four children. After the third one came along, however, we quickly abandoned that idea. It wasn’t that we decided we didn’t like kids. It was just that we realized we were outnumbered, and keeping up with three required much more thought, time, and attention than did two. At the mall, for example, Donna held one, I held the other, and there was always one running loose. Even the grocery store was a challenge. One in the seat of the shopping cart, one in the actual shopping cart, and then, wait! Where does this one go? Where do the groceries go? “Here honey set this case of water in your lap. No! Stop chewing on that pack of hamburger meat. Sit down! Stop smushing the chips! Oh good lord, where is your sister? Get away from that! Let’s just go. I don’t care if we ever eat again.” How my mom and dad handled six is way beyond me.
I once saw a sign at a mechanic’s shop that read:
We do three types of jobs here… good, fast and cheap.
You may pick any TWO:
Good and fast, won’t be cheap.
Cheap and good, won’t be fast.
Fast and cheap, won’t be good.
For some reason, “two” seems to be a number with which we are comfortable. Any more than “two,” and we get overwhelmed, it’s too much to do—too much to process.
To our detriment, we also do it in our spiritual lives. Who would deny that it’s not uncommon to hear about God, our Father, and Christ Jesus, our savior, but precious little is ever said or taught about The Holy Spirit our Comforter & Helper? Likewise, being made of body, soul, and spirit, we often think of our bodies and even our spirit, but when is the last time you checked on your soul?
In the unparalleled days that we live in, I want to remind you that, according to 1 Cor. 13:13, Three things. Yes, three. “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love...” Of these three, we know about faith and hear about it often. Bookstores are filled with books on the subject. And if you think you hear a lot about faith, what about “love”? Love is a daily topic about which we sing and make movies. And again, bookstores are filled with volumes on the subject.
We regularly consider faith and love, yet few ever talk about hope. We are busily majoring in faith and love. Not that those are bad things. They are vital factors in our life, but I’ve never heard of a class on hope. No one makes a “statement of hope” nor writes a “hope song.” In every public library, there are sections devoted to books on faith, as well as for books on love, but you won’t find one for hope.
While all this is true, it’s evident that God places a high value on hope. After all, He put it in the top three of human essentials. “Love,” He says, is “the greatest.” It is the “strength and power of.” Hope, however, is the beginning of everything.
Ray Johnston author of one of the very few works on the subject of hope wrote;
When people become more hopeful about their health, they start on the path to getting in shape.
When people get hopeful about breaking bad habits, they start winning battles they haven’t won before.
When people become more hopeful about their kids, they find new energy to invest in those kids.
When people get hope in their marriages, they start making better decisions.
When people become more hopeful about their finances, they began to develop a pattern that leads to financial freedom.
When people become more hopeful about their future, hope is the match that lights the fuse that sends them back to school or helps them apply for a new job or helps them grow and develop.
When people become more hopeful that they can actually connect with God, it fuels the kind of actions that lead them to spiritual vitality and health.
Hope is the most important factor because when you have hope anything is possible. When you don’t, there’s only discouragement. Johnston says, “Hope is the highest octane fuel in the universe.”
If this critical ingredient is missing in your life right now, I have good news. Hope is not some emotional feeling over which you have no control. Hope is a state of being that you create. It is something that God can help you develop in your life.
So, I leave you with these words of encouragement. “Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the Lord.” - Psalms 31:24 NASB and you can make the unbearable miraculous.
~Pastor Bobby
