"Where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see it?" (Job 17:15)
This is Job. This is suffering. This is, again, "the dark night of the soul." Now many of us have been there; some are there.
Do not be condemned if you have said this. Job was just being honest, honest in his appraisal, honest in his pain. Yet instead of the giving-up of so many over the centuries, Job continues in the battle. We know how it "turned out" for Job; he ultimately triumphs in his faith in the Living Triune God. But we also know out it turned out for so many throughout Church History. Hebrews 11 shares just some of the triumphs and some of the great trials of Followers of Jesus Christ.
The men who were beheaded the other day were murdered because they were "people of the cross." Just so, you and I are "people of the Cross." So was Job, because, like Abraham, he too, "rejoiced to see [Jesus] day, and he saw it and was glad," and as Moses, "for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible." And, this was the rejoicing, the enduring, "hope," of Job. Yes, Job had times of wondering, "Where then is my hope?" The Amplified Bible says, "And if I have hope, who will see [its fulfillment]?" There is some of the Hebrew 11 theology here. Job was not like so many today, a "Bless-God-Hallelujah-Everything-is-just-peachy" religionist. He was a realist, a person of, "All the days of my struggle I will wait until my change comes." This is victory living. This is overcoming, triumphant living. Everything else is "death."
The Old Testament saints were declared righteous by looking forward to the Cross. The Cross was the answer to their question, "Where then is my hope?" Since then, the righteous are those who look back to the Cross, as in, "Where then is my hope?" So, "Where then is my hope?" Our hope is in the Same One as, "Our help is in the name of the [Lord Jesus Christ], who made heaven and earth." And I am sure Jesus has a, "hope," a, "help," for you and me.
Father, in Jesus' Name, my hope is You. Amen.
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I am operating at quite a slower pace today, due to an accident. I slipped on some ice which was under snow. I didn't fall, but it may have been better if I had. I tore something on the inside of my leg. This is life, but would appreciate any prayer you would offer. I have three weeks until we leave for Berlin. Pray that it will be "all better by then."
This is Job. This is suffering. This is, again, "the dark night of the soul." Now many of us have been there; some are there.
Do not be condemned if you have said this. Job was just being honest, honest in his appraisal, honest in his pain. Yet instead of the giving-up of so many over the centuries, Job continues in the battle. We know how it "turned out" for Job; he ultimately triumphs in his faith in the Living Triune God. But we also know out it turned out for so many throughout Church History. Hebrews 11 shares just some of the triumphs and some of the great trials of Followers of Jesus Christ.
The men who were beheaded the other day were murdered because they were "people of the cross." Just so, you and I are "people of the Cross." So was Job, because, like Abraham, he too, "rejoiced to see [Jesus] day, and he saw it and was glad," and as Moses, "for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible." And, this was the rejoicing, the enduring, "hope," of Job. Yes, Job had times of wondering, "Where then is my hope?" The Amplified Bible says, "And if I have hope, who will see [its fulfillment]?" There is some of the Hebrew 11 theology here. Job was not like so many today, a "Bless-God-Hallelujah-Everything-is-just-peachy" religionist. He was a realist, a person of, "All the days of my struggle I will wait until my change comes." This is victory living. This is overcoming, triumphant living. Everything else is "death."
The Old Testament saints were declared righteous by looking forward to the Cross. The Cross was the answer to their question, "Where then is my hope?" Since then, the righteous are those who look back to the Cross, as in, "Where then is my hope?" So, "Where then is my hope?" Our hope is in the Same One as, "Our help is in the name of the [Lord Jesus Christ], who made heaven and earth." And I am sure Jesus has a, "hope," a, "help," for you and me.
Father, in Jesus' Name, my hope is You. Amen.
*******************************
I am operating at quite a slower pace today, due to an accident. I slipped on some ice which was under snow. I didn't fall, but it may have been better if I had. I tore something on the inside of my leg. This is life, but would appreciate any prayer you would offer. I have three weeks until we leave for Berlin. Pray that it will be "all better by then."
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
