Hope in the Night (A 30-Day Reflection on Anxiety and Fear)

Fourteenth Night: Who is my Living Hope?

"The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills."
- Habakkuk 3:19

~~~

Reflection:

Pastor Tim Keller once said, "A living hope enables us to have both sorrow and joy. Our living hope is an inheritance achieved for us by Christ." Isn't that amazing? There is a living hope, not just any kind of hope offered here in this world but something that is alive. This living hope is our inheritance, just like an inheritance given by our predecessors.

The book of Habakkuk concluded with his prayer, "The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights" (Habakkuk 3:19 NIV).

When you consider what this prophet knew he was already facing, his sheer hope is stunning. "Even though the fig tree doesn't bud and there are no animals in the barn, yet the Lord is in his holy temple. Even though it's going to get worse before it gets better, be still all the earth before him. The righteous will live by faith. God's word will be true. I will find my strength and my hope in the Lord my God, and he will take me to new heights."

Habakkuk wrestled with questions, embraced reality, trusted anyways, and found his hope in God. Remember what Habakkuk's name means: To wrestle. And to embrace. Both at the same time.

There is a Christian writer who wrote his reminiscence about his daughter. He said, "I remember when my youngest daughter, Joy, was barely four years old and playing on a friend's backyard zip line. Since she was too small to keep herself from hitting the tree at the end of the line, she smashed her face square into its thick trunk. I can still remember hearing that crack! She fell to the ground, bloody and unconscious.

Panicked, I found a pulse, although not as strong as I would have liked. We rushed her to the ER, and the doctors began running tests. Once she regained consciousness, they tried to stitch up the gash on the bottom of her chin. But Joy wasn't having it.

I had to pin her down.

I was lying on top of her, holding her body and head still while the doctor carefully dressed her cuts and stitched them up. She was sobbing, "Daddy, what's going on? Please let go. Make them stop. I want to play. Please. I just want to play. Please don't let them hurt me." But I knew that if she was going to heal properly, she had to go through this."

Just like the four years old Joy, we tend to wrestle with God. We wanted to play in this world, but we were just as broken and wounded as that kid. In times like this, God holds us down like what Joy's father did. He knew very well what it will take us to heal properly.

My friend, we wrestle and embrace. Yes, both at the same time. And yet in His arms, there is hope. A Living Hope. And that is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

~~~

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love and care for me. I praise You, Lord, for Your endless grace and mercy. Thank You for holding me down so I can heal. Thank You for the discipline, for making me feel I am Your child. May I become a child whom You will be proud of, a child who will exalt Your Name more than anything in this world. In Jesus' Name, Amen.