“For those of you trusting a promise God has whispered to you recently: Be careful not to misplace your hope. The hope is not in the promise, but in the one who made the promise. Expect a breakthrough; but ask for strength to endure the present. If all you receive is your solution, what have you gained? Surely a new crisis will emerge; a new fear will haunt you. But when you learn to put your hope in God, He will empower you to endure all that life brings you. And at that point you will rise above the pain of this life and move in ways unimaginable before because your desire is His will more than your relief. Letting go of control starts with letting go of the fear and worry and moving forward when He calls” (Anonymous).

A friend of mine wrote these words 6 years ago, but the words are as relevant and true today as they were then.

Your hope isn’t primarily in the promise but in the God who made the promise. After all, what each of us really desires and needs ultimately isn’t the gift so much as the Giver. I’m after God’s heart more than His hand.

I think about Christmases past. Most years I got what I asked for, but after a few days or a few weeks, the luster of the gift wore off and the thrill went with it. I probably couldn’t remember more than a handful of them.

But the memories I carry with me are the people who gave me the gifts. They were worth more to me than anything they could give me. I’d give up all the gifts I ever received from them to have them back even for only a moment.

God is infinitely worth more than even the best of His gifts, so why do I so often hunger after what God can give me and not after God Himself?

True peace comes when you trust that God’s best promise is the forever guarantee of His presence. It’s when you understand that peace isn’t a feeling or a state of mind but the very person of Jesus.

That’s what a lot of us need to hear. The Lord will provide.

In a culture where your value is in how you look or what you do or what you are, God says that your worth comes from WHOSE you are. Your value is in being a child of the Father, bought by Jesus, indwelled by the Holy Spirit, and loved by the Triune God.

God sees. God knows exactly what His children need and when they need it. His timing is always perfect. When you get to the end of this part of the journey, you will look back and see that God worked it out in the best possible way. Even the hard and dark parts end up being worked for good in God’s economy. There are no wasted steps or seconds in your journey.

Sometimes when you have no words of your own, it helps to pray the prayers of others (or better yet, to pray Scripture). Here’s one that spoke to my very inner being last night as prayed by the Puritans back in the day:

“O GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT,

Thou who dost proceed from the Father
      and the Son,
      have mercy on me.
When thou didst first hover over chaos,
    order came to birth,
  beauty robed the world, fruitfulness sprang forth.
Move, I pray thee, upon my disordered heart;
Take away the infirmities of unruly desires
    and hateful lusts;
Lift the mists and darkness of unbelief;
Brighten my soul with the pure light of truth;
Make it fragrant as the garden of paradise,
  rich with every goodly fruit,
  beautiful with heavenly grace,
  radiant with rays of divine light.
Fulfil in me the glory of thy divine offices;
Be my comforter, light, guide, sanctifier;
Take of the things of Christ and show them
  to my soul;
Through thee may I daily learn more of his love,
  grace, compassion, faithfulness, beauty;
Lead me to the cross and show me his wounds,
  the hateful nature of evil, the power of Satan;
May I there see my sins as
  the nails that transfixed him,
  the cords that bound him,
  the thorns that tore him,
  the sword that pierced him.
Help me to find in his death the reality
  and immensity of his love.
Open for me the wondrous volumes of truth
  in his, ‘It is finished’.
Increase my faith in the clear knowledge of
  atonement achieved, expiation completed,
  satisfaction made, guilt done away,
  my debt paid, my sins forgiven,
  my person redeemed, my soul saved,
  hell vanquished, heaven opened,
    eternity made mine.
O Holy Spirit, deepen in me these saving lessons.
Write them upon my heart, that my walk be
  sin-loathing, sin-fleeing, Christ-loving;
And suffer no devil’s device to beguile
  or deceive me.”

I learned something new in regard to Black History Month. One of my favorite hymns was penned by one Mr. Thomas A. Dorsey, who just happens to be considered one of the pioneers of gospel music. He wrote something like 400 gospel tunes over his lifetime.

This one was inspired by the death of his wife and infant son during childbirth. It was out of some of the deepest pain and grief imaginable that some of the most beautiful lyrics ever penned came to be.

That’s how it is sometimes. God speaks a precious word to those going through the valley of the shadow of death. Many of those who have suffered loss have used it to minister to others in their time of grief, knowing full well that God works all things, including the worst things, together for good.

I have no concept of what it’s like to lose a spouse or a child, much less both. I can’t begin to imagine the agony of sorrow. I do know that the basis of the hope I have comes from God sacrificing His only Son for me that I might have life.

God knows what sorrow is like. God is with us in the middle of weeping. The same Shepherd who has gone before us into that valley of death will go with us through it. That’s what I know for sure.

“Precious Lord, take my hand.
Lead me on, let me stand.
I am tired, I am weak, and worn.
Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light.
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.

When my way grows drear,
Precious Lord, lead me near,
When my life is almost gone.
Hear my cry, hear my call.
Hold my hand, lest I fall.
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.

When the darkness appears
And the night draws near,
And the day is past and gone,
At the river I stand.
Guide my feet, hold my hand,
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.”

I’m just gonna leave this right here.

I had all sorts of ideas of what to write about. Well, more truthfully, I had inklings of possibilities of ideas to write about, but nothing came of any of it. Then I remembered, “Oh yeah, Doctor Who.”

I’m still on my second go-round to watch all the classic episodes. Currently, I’m on season 17 with Lalla Ward as Romana II. Essentially, the original actress to play Romana didn’t return for the next season, so Romana regenerated into a new face.

I still find that there’s something magical about these old episodes. The special effects are not the greatest and sometimes painfully bad. Some of the villains are way over the top. But all in all, the stories are good and the characters are compelling.

Of course, there will be further updates as the doctor changes and the companions come and go. Plus, it gives me a backup plan when all my other ideas are kaput.

One of my heroes of the faith is Amy Carmichael, who served faithfully as a missionary in India rescuing little girls from temple prostitution. She wrote with boldness and authority that is seldom seen in the current age of Christianity Lite. Read these words and let them sink in deep. May they be the beat of your heart in the days to come:

“Let us end on a very simple note: Let us listen to simple words; our Lord speak simply: ‘Trust Me, My child,’ He says. ‘Trust Me with a humbler heart and a fuller abandon to My will than ever thou didst before. Trust Me to pour My love through thee, as minute succeeds minute. And if thou shouldst be conscious of anything hindering that flow, do not hurt My love by going away from Me in discouragement, for nothing can hurt so much as that. Draw all the closer to Me; come, flee unto Me to hide thee, even from thyself. Tell Me about the trouble. Trust Me to turn My hand upon thee and thoroughly to remove the boulder that has choked they river-bed, and take away all the sand that has silted up the channel. I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. I will perfect that which concerneth thee. Fear thou not, O child of My love; fear not.’

And now…to gather all in one page:

‘Beloved, let us love.

Lord, what is love?

Love is that which inspired My life, and led Me to My Cross, and held Me on My Cross. Love is that which will make it thy joy to lay down thy life for thy brethren.’

Lord, evermore give me this love.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after love, for they shall be filled” (Amy Carmichael).

‘Ooh!’ said Susan, ‘I’d thought he was a man. Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.’

‘That you will, dearie, and no mistake,’ said Mrs. Beaver; ‘if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.’

‘Then he isn’t safe?’ said Lucy.

‘Safe?’ said Mr. Beaver; ‘don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you'” (C. S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe).

If I had to choose, I’d pick good over safe any day of the week.

I’m not about taking risks for the sake of taking risks, but I also know that if you’re always playing it safe, you’ll never branch out and try anything new. You’ll miss out on so many of life’s experiences.

Stepping out in faith isn’t always safe, but it is always knowing that whatever the outcome, God is good and God is able.

“It is no good giving me a play like Hamlet or King Lear, and telling me to write a play like that. Shakespeare could do it — I can’t. And it is no good showing me a life like the life of Jesus and telling me to live a life like that. Jesus could do it — I can’t. But if the genius of Shakespeare could come and live in me, then I could write plays like this. And if the Spirit of Jesus could come into me, then I could live a life like that. This is the secret of Christian sanctity. It is not that we should strive to live like Jesus, but that he by his Spirit should come and live in us. To have him as our example is not enough; we need him as our Saviour” (John R. W. Stott).

I think for years, a lot of American Christianity has come across as “try harder” and “do better.”

The fact is that the message should be “I can’t . . . but Jesus can.”

It’s not a matter of trying harder as if I could somehow by my own willpower sweat and strain and groan and push myself toward holiness.

True, the path to Christlikeness isn’t an easy one. In fact, humanly speaking it’s impossible.

The only way to achieving holiness and Christlikeness is the power of Christ. It’s the very presence of Christ within us.

Maturity in the faith doesn’t come by brute strength but in surrender, not in obstinance but obedience, not in extra effort but by the indwelling of God’s Spirit.

Tonight, I needed to remind myself that the gospel is all Jesus from start to finish. I can’t boast at any point about any part of it. If it seems out of reach or hopeless, all I need is to remember that Jesus promised to finish what He began in every one of His children. The end.

“How can we forgive those who do not want to be forgiven? Our deepest desire is that the forgiveness we offer will be received. This mutuality between giving and receiving is what creates peace and harmony. But if our condition for giving forgiveness is that it will be received, we seldom will forgive! Forgiving the other is first and foremost an inner movement. It is an act that removes anger, bitterness, and the desire for revenge from our hearts and helps us to reclaim our human dignity. We cannot force those we want to forgive into accepting our forgiveness. They might not be able or willing do so. They may not even know or feel that they have wounded us.

The only people we can really change are ourselves. Forgiving others is first and foremost healing our own hearts” (Henri Nouwen).

Forgiveness is letting go of the expectation that the other person can fix what he or she did to you.

Forgiveness is the key to opening the locked door to the prison cell only to find that the prisoner inside was you.

Forgiveness breaks the cycle of continually drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

The one who forgives little has been forgiven little, but the one who forgives much has been forgiven of much.

The one who understands how great the forgiveness of God really is will be the first to forgive others as often as possible.

Who do you need to forgive? Even the ones you know haven’t shown remorse or sorrow for their actions?

Is the one most in need of forgiveness from you the one staring at you in the mirror? Is it you?