Life is rarely easy for very long. Trials and difficulties unrelentingly challenge our faith and peace. Some pick at us as minor annoyances, others come like a flood and overwhelm.
Often those trials come from external sources – illness invades our bodies, cars break down, jobs disappear, relationships become strained, friends turn on us. Unchecked, any of these can lead to hopelessness and despair.
But perhaps the more difficult and discouraging trials are those which come from within. Though we promise God to turn from our sin we commit the same sins all over again. We determine to be transformed yet remain the same. We resolve to be victorious but quickly fail. Brennan Manning described the experience well in his book The Ragamuffin Gospel.
"When I get honest, I admit that I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty. I am trusting and suspicious. I am honest and still play games. "
What should we do when it becomes too much, when a broken world crashes down one more time, when we once again fall and fail? Many will feel like giving up. They may think, “I just can’t deal with it. I don’t want to deal with it. I’m just too tired. Quitting is so much easier.”
The Apostle Paul gave a much better answer in his first little to his friend and disciple Timothy. He told Timothy to remember that Christ Jesus is our hope. Jesus not only gives hope, he is our hope. Hope resides in his person and anyone who flees to Jesus will receive that hope as well.
Thanks. I really needed this today.
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