Yesterday we had Zoom interview with the senior editor of a major news organization. Until the story is online, I will not mention which one. It seemed to go well. We were asked many of the same questions as so many try to understand how this happened. One of the questions that we were asked, however, was, “How does your faith play a role and make a difference in how you handle this situation?” It was an amazing opportunity to explain publicly that the “faith” that we have makes all the difference. Our faith is what gives us “hope”. Not a wishful thinking kind of hope, like saying, ‘I hope that my car never breaks down”, but more of a, “feeling of trust” as the Oxford dictionary describes it on my phone. This is a hope that is imbedded deep into us, and it produces both confidence and resolve. Faith and hope may be used interchangeably at times and even considered to be the same thing, but perhaps, in my perspective, I would say that it is our FAITH in God: that He exists, He created us, He loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for us, and that He has a plan for us, and it is that FAITH then, that gives us HOPE for the future, and that even though we are not “happy” (an emotion) we still can have true joy and peace, which are inward strengths. So through the “eye of faith” we “see the unseen” (Hebrews 11:1) then that produces in us a hope for a better future. Not an easier future, but a future in which, “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His Purposes”. (Romans 8:28) Then we, “Sorrow not as others which have no hope” (I Thessalonians 4:13). So, our faith and the hope that it produces in us is what gives us the strength, confidence, and resolve to continue to: Do right, breathe, take small steps, and keep moving forward. It’s this confidence, despite emotion and circumstance, that gives us a heavenly perspective on things.
The other day I was up on our roof clearing out the rain gutters. While in the middle of it, my son Josh said, “Dad look up, there are eagles above us”. We admired the size and beauty of the bald eagles, then we discussed that, although we do not see them often, they are probably around a lot more than we realize. This is because we generally live our lives within the distance between our eyeballs and the ground. I would say this is similar to the typical “earthly” mindset that we have by default. It’s the world in which we scurry about our lives, going to and frow, so consumed with what we “see” right in front of us. The alternative, however, is a “heavenly” mindset. It is like looking up and seeing the eagles, or looking down from an airplane, at the smallness of our existence below. It’s the change of perspective that we need that helps us refocus our attention and, “affection on things above, not on things on the earth”. (Colossians 3:2) Then let’s not be, “conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds”. (Romans 12:2) (That renewing is like the change of focus to the heavenly mindset.) Because “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world”. (I John 4:4) Then we can wrap this up with the confidence from Jesus, our Lord, that, “IN ME you might HAVE PEACE. In the world you will have tribulation, BUT BE OF GOOD COURAGE, I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.” (John 16:33) So as we go through our daily life, let’s not forget to “look up”, “see the unseen”, then live confidently with the “hope” that is within us, having been promised true peace by He, who has overcome the world! Then we will proclaim, “We are more that conquerors through Him that loved us” and that nothing, “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. (Romans 8:37-39) Look up and live victorious today!
We are blessed
Hannah Helps 