Let Hope Arise

Have you ever felt that all hope is lost? You look under the bed, not there. Maybe it is in that mountain of boxes in the garage you forgot about many years ago, not there either.

Here is a portion of a text message I sent to my pastor about my day today.
"Hard to hold fast to God's promises when it feels as all hope has been sucked from the very marrow of your bones." Have you ever had a day or worse yet (as in my case) a year that has felt like that?

Maybe you feel like Bill Murray waking up to that silly Sonny & Cher song "I Got You Babe" only to feel that bad day is just the same old repetitious day. Unfortunately some of us find that day turns into a week then a year and don't sneeze because now it is a decade.

For the past several weeks my pastor has been talking about being a giant killer. Here is the issue though; we are all called to be giant killers. The first giant we are called to kill is our own fear of inadequacy. Funny enough my pastor stated it is our "but" that gets in our way from succeeding in God's plans for our lives.

This is where the heading comes into play. We are called to let hope arise.

As I was driving home from church yesterday a song came on called "With Everything." Let me share with you a couple lines from the song that did not stand out but screamed out.

With Everything

Let hope rise
And darkness tremble
In Your holy light
Every eye will see
Jesus our God
Great and mighty to be praised

When I heard this I could not help but think hope cannot arise until we get to the point of making Darkness tremble. Here is the exciting thing; YOU are the light of the world!

Matthew 5:14
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Jesus didn't just stop with us being the light of the world. He finished with likening you to a city set on a hill which cannot be hidden. Do you believe this or have you allowed the darkness/dark times consume you?

Until we confront the darkness and doubt in our life can we not fully understand that we are the hope in a dying world created with a purpose for God to be glorified through us.

God is calling YOU to let hope arise or better yet explode out of YOU. In order to do that though we must do a couple things.

First confront the giant of darkness. You may ask how to do so. Well look at Joshua and when the Israelites crossed the Jordan. He instructed the priests of each family or tribe to collect a large stone from the river to stand for what God did for them delivering them to the other side and His promises (Joshua 4). When someone asks, tell them what God did for you and how He delivered you. This concept is also later found when David chose 5 stones in the defeat of Goliath. Later Christ calls Himself the cornerstone and additionally refers to Peter as the Rock or Stone.

God has a purpose for you to stand unmovable in hard times as a stone. Don't think of yourself and those things God has done through you as just a pebble. No on the contrary you are large in God's picture.

In Illinois there is a park called Starved Rock. This park, hands down, is one of the most beautiful parks in Illinois. What most people do not know is how it received its name. There was a battle that took place in the park which today is dressed in large granite rock, water falls, maple and oak trees and cliffs everywhere. During the battle the Illini Indian tribe stayed in this area defending themselves during battle and did not give up even to the point of starving to death.

God has given us the drive to stand resilient as a stone in the midst of battle, but He will not let you starve. He wants for you to look toward the hope which is set before you and to stand firm on His promises. It is His plan that you will hold onto His promises made yesterday, in the present and for the future both for yourself and for generations to come.

When you catch the fact that your life is so important that it makes the enemy's knees bucket and darkness tremble you understand that the plan God has included you in is far greater than your problem of today. In fact it is what drove Elijah to out run Jezebel and Ahab's chariots after a long drought and seeing the cloud the size of a man's hand.

Get ready; the drought will not last forever. He has not left us to starve. He has allowed that cloud the size of a man's hand to bring vitality back into those dry areas of your life. Get ready to out run the chariots of the enemy. Get ready to allow hope arise and darkness tremble. YOU are a the light of the world set as a city on the top of the hill, a beacon of hope for God's continued promises.

LET HOPE ARISE!

CAL