Next book in the series (Eastertide)

 

If you are looking for a companion for the season of Eastertide, Alive: Encountering the Risen Jesus is available on Amazon.

where is your hope?

“O Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.” (Ps. 131:3) Where is your hope?  Who, or what, do you really put your hope in?  And how can you tell if your hope is really in the Lord?  If you look at your life, it will give you a pretty good idea.  Your actions will always show you where your hope really lies. 

Waiting for the Lord is one surefire way to tell.  Waiting for the Lord shows us where our hope really lies.  If we are willing and able to wait for the Lord, it shows that our hope is really in him, and if we are always charging ahead, it shows that our hope is really in ourselves. 

What does it look like to put your hope in the Lord these days?

wait in hope

“But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (Rom. 8:25) 

There is an intimate connection between hoping and waiting.  Until we fully recognize and acknowledge that the things we most deeply long for—like healing, wholeness, freedom, and peace—cannot be accomplished by our own power, gifts, and efforts, we will always be frustrated.  When we long for things that only God can bring about, our only option is to wait in hope and trust that God’s heart is good, and he will take care of us.  Unfortunately, we are not very good at waiting patiently, which means that, in most cases, our hope is in ourselves rather than in our God.  Thus, we constantly try to manufacture and produce, to fix and manipulate, rather than wait patiently.

We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.  In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.  May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.” (Psalm 33:20-22)

paradox

 "...like a weaned child with its mother is my soul within me." (Ps. 131:2)

you must know

your belovedness

before you can

fully embrace

your nothingness

only you

Only you, O God, can make the parched land glad and make the wilderness blossom and bloom. (Is. 35:1) Only you can make water gush forth in the desert and make streams flow in the wasteland.  Only you can turn burning sand into pools of water and transform thirsty ground into bubbling springs.  Only you can turn the wilderness into a place of life and hope.  Do that again today, we pray.  Lord, have mercy on us.

out of and into

“And the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil, and oppression.  So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders.  He brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey…” (Deut. 26:7-9)

The two movements of God in this passage are unmistakable: He leads the Israelites out of Egypt, in order to lead them into the promised land.  That’s kind of the way He works; God is always leading us out of one thing to lead us into another.  Out of darkness and into light.  Out of brokenness and into wholeness.  Out of chaos and into peace.  Out of slavery and into freedom.  Out of fear and into love.  The first thing must be left behind in order for the second thing to be fully realized.

What is God leading you out of these days and what is he leading you into?  What is he asking you to leave behind and what is he inviting you to step into?  What does he want you to let go of and what does he want you to take hold of? 

Lent 2025

 Lent begins on March 5th this year.  If you're looking for a companion for yourself, your family, your small group, your staff, your church, etc.  Here are two options:

Emptying is the next book in the Order My Steps series.

And Journey to the Cross was my first Lenten devotional.

Both are available on Amazon.