“HOPE IS FOREVER”

by Peter Garich

 

When I turned on the TV, to Fox news, I had a hard time believing what I saw and then heard. Being interviewed was this cute little grandmother type—with almost white hair and standing about 5 feet tall. As I watched, I thought to myself that there was something quite strange about this scene. What was so out of character for this warm, little grandmother type was that she was in combat fatigues. That’s right, she was in full battle-ready gear—with her M16 weapon in hand—ready to ship out to Iraq! The story went on to explain that this 56-year-old grandmother of three had been recalled into the

Army at her discharged rank of Captain, a rank she’d achieved during the Vietnam war. When she had completed her required service commitment (or so she thought), she left the service and began a whole new life. Even though she had fulfilled her required service agreement (both active and inactive), and had left the military, she had missed the fine print of her service contract. What they seemed to be saying about her unbelievable situation was that she had not formally resigned her commission and was therefore subject to being recalled during a time of war. And that is exactly what happened. Because the United States is at war she had been recalled and in the next three days was heading to the combat zone in Iraq. Unfortunately, this grandmother’s story was not

that uncommon. In fact, the story went on to say that there were many retired service people who were experiencing the same fate. As I watched, my heart went out to all these folks, and especially the grandmother. I wondered what was going through their minds as they faced such a radical, life-changing event. One other man they interviewed was a Christian and, although he was extremely and visibly shaken, he and his family said that their only hope was to place their future in the hands of the Lord and pray. His words, though quite reassuring concerning his faith, don’t quite reflect what I so often hear from many of those I counsel. If we went behind the cameras, and into the life of this family, I imagine they, too, would probably express many of the same questions that any of us would ask if we had our rug of security pulled out from underneath our feet. When our lives suddenly and without warning take such radical turns, it’s quite normal for us to ask all the usual questions. Sometimes we question our faith, or the love and sovereignty of our Lord. Thoughts such as, “Does God know how scared I really am right now, and if He does know, does He even care?” begin bombarding our fearful minds. Sometimes we

are plagued so severely by our doubts that we “feel” like giving up. At this point our focus on God seems to shift. We become consumed more with the circumstances we face than with the secure belief that our God is still completely and intimately sovereign. Or that His grace will take us through everything we face. Our anxious feelings and fear-riddled thoughts take over, and we lose sight of the FACT that God is still our loving Father and in absolute control. This, my dear friends, is the hope we want to remember as we begin a New Year. For these truths are the ones that will quell all of our fears no matter how life challenging. During times of such upheaval and confusion, many of the Faithful begin to ask, “What in the world is God doing in my life?” And without that

for which we yearn—an immediate answer—our spiritual bearings give way and a sense of hopelessness sets in. As one of the Faithful who has personally experienced his share of unwanted changes, I pray that the following thoughts can offer some helpful insights to build your hope. One of the most important insights I can pass along is that during these times of distress we MUST focus on God’s Word, as well as our relationship with the One who spoke it. Because of the reassuring truth that God sincerely loves us and has only His best in store for us, we can, and should, take a deep breath . . . and then ask for His grace to believe it. The Scriptures, and not our circumstances or emotions, will be the only source of truth we need during troubled times. For instance, God’s word assures us

that, “‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future . . . you will seek Me [during times of troubles] and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you’ declares the Lord.” (Jer. 29:11–14) To seek the Lord above all else during days of darkness is the hopeful admonition of this passage.  Here the Lord tells us that His plan for us during those times is always for our good. This is the hope we need—so that our fluctuating emotions or changing circumstances don’t rule our lives. When the question of, “Why am I going through these trials?” begins to haunt us, and it might, we again must go back to God’s Word. For it’s there, and only there, that we find His abundant means of strength and wisdom to answer such daunting concerns. Concerning the “why” His Word is again quite clear. One of the reasons we go through these trials, He tells us, is that He is testing our hearts to strengthen our faith. This has been true for all the people of God. When the Israelites entered the promise land the Lord told them that He was leaving some “giants” in the land so that they would continue to depend totally on Him. Complete dependence on God is as relevant and important to us today as it was for the Jews 4,000 years ago. It’s clear to God that, much like the Israelites, we can fall prey to living our lives in our own strength. And when left to our own device there’s little resistance to self-dependence. Even after times of tribulation it doesn’t take long before we are back to our “self-sufficient” old ways again. When we are facing the trial we are quick to call out to the Lord, but as soon as the crisis passes we fall back to doing things without thinking much about just how drastically we NEED Him. We think we can handle life’s ups and downs on our own with little, or no, help from above. This is a recurring problem for us all. C. S. Lewis told the story of a thoughtful and loving

young mother who found her precious little boy rolling and playing in the mud puddle outside their flat. Immediately she grabbed her darling, but utterly dirty, young son from the mud, took him in the house and proceeded to scrub him in the tub until his chubby little cheeks were pink and quite smashingly clean. But then, now being squeaky clean and free from his mum’s watchful eyes, the single-minded and mischievous young lad ran down the stairs, back out to his glorious mud puddle—and jumped right back in, rolling around until his new-found cleanliness was even dirtier than before. Lewis’ story graphically points out just how much we are like that mother and her young child. The

same as the loving mother, the Lord finds us wallowing in the filth of our sinful and destructive lives, but then, again like her, He plucks us out and washes our sins away until we are white as snow. And as for us, much like the thoughtless lad, as soon as we are “free” from the watchful eyes of our Father (so we think), we take off running back to the utter filth of our old ways. Disregarding the passion and price of our Savior, we foolishly believe it’s a great place to be—back the way we were when He found us.

Fortunately for us the Lord will not allow this to go on for too long. Just when we think we’re doing quite well (on our own), He brings in a “giant” or two (some trial or tribulation) and again we’re sliding down the hall on our knees. And as we head for our proverbial bed, we desperately cry out, “Lord, please help me, NOW.” As Ronald Reagan once put it, “There you go again.” We just don’t seem to get it. Here then again is the lesson, and thank God He intends for us to learn it: there is never-ever (no, nada) a time when we can do things on our own, period! We always need God because “apart from Me,” He says; we “can do NOTHING!” There are millions of people in the world who don’t know the Lord and are left to do it all by themselves. For them there is no “James the Giant Killer” and they are doomed to their own futile devices. But for us, our hope is in the Lord and His Word, which endures forever. Praise God, He won’t let us wallow in the mud forever. This New Year let’s all start again by finding our hope in God, His Word, and His unyielding faithfulness. And steadfastly continue in Him by keeping our eyes, minds, spirits and hearts fixed on our Savior’s grace, for ALL things are possible with Him—even His holiness, which we all desire. 

 

In His Service,

Peter Garich-