Saturday, May 30, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Hope Deferred... It Resonates
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. - Proverbs 13:12
Thank you, Captain Obvious! I know the author of Proverbs possessed an intelligence and wisdom beyond any capacity I might have. But this one little verse seems like the most glaring understatement in Scripture.
Please excuse me for the irreverence that seems to pour forth as I put words to paper. I mean in no way to dishonor this passage. It’s just that every time I hear or read this passage something in my soul wants to sound off, especially lately. It seems no matter what I do or whom I meet the truth in this passage resonates through out all walks of humanity. Hope deferred makes the heart sick…
It resonates when the economy tumbles and families can no longer afford their homes. It resonates in the cries of a mother giving birth to a stillborn child. It resonates in the ache of a sister grieving over the loss of her 23-year-old brother to cancer. It resonates in the voice of an elderly man who faces the reality that his body can no longer do the simplest of tasks that his mind envisions. It resonates in our rejections, failures, shortcomings, dysfunctional behaviors, and unhealed hurts. Hope deferred makes the heart sick… it resonates!
If it’s ok with you, allow me a little tangent. As a journalist by erudition I have learned to see life as a story that holds many interwoven subplots. There are similarities that run in the storylines of every person on earth. An obvious subplot is satisfaction. In many ways we are driven daily by our need to be satisfied. This need to be satisfied moves that woman to find the perfect job. It arouses that man to fall in love with a woman and pursue a life long relationship with her. It stirs me daily to leave logs in the porcelain throne in my downstairs bathroom. No matter how profound or superficial our longing, the fact is we move in this way because we "hope" that thing will satisfy the need that has been aroused in the moment.
You see I believe that we as humans have instilled in us this desire, this yearning to experience more in this life than what we know presently. And this unction draws us forward. In this life I have come to see hope as the beautiful bastard child that bears witness to the image in which all humanity was fashioned. Let me explain.
The power of hope is that it depicts life (or even a moment) where all is as it should be - or more appropriately said all is as we think it should be. That picture before us entices us to take steps we may otherwise be unwilling to take. Yet, even though hope here on earth carries a beauty that woos us to continue, the sad thing is we find that the hope we cling to on this earth is tainted, incomplete, and unfulfilling. It’s a bastard child. It displays all the promise of that which gives life but we are left wanting. So, instead of knowing the splendor and strength of a hope that causes our humanity to yearn for more, in the frailty and brokenness of this life we come to know the disillusionment of a hope deferred, denied, and destroyed.
As depressing as this reality is, it still doesn’t negate this innate sense that we need to be satisfied. I agree with what author C.S. Lewis once penned. "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy then the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." This desire in us reveals that we were created to know more than the false hope for which we tend to settle. So it stands that any temporary thing in which we place our hope to satisfy us will only take the edge off temporarily at best. More times than not, those things don’t do anything but leave us disheartened.
I am no stranger to this tension as a Christ follower. I have put my hope in the One who is called Immanuel – God with us! I have chosen to respond by entrusting my life to the Lord of heaven and earth – the ETERNAL ONE, the One who holds satisfaction in His hand. Yet, I still struggle daily with disappointment. I still sin against God and fall short of expectations – my own and those that others put on me. The world is still tainted and that which is just and right gets trampled by the fallen reality we know. Have you seen the news lately? Floods and tornadoes kill people, people kill people, and even swine kill people.
With all this in the landscape of my view, I fight to believe daily. I find myself echoing Peter’s confession in John 6:68 "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life…” And as I do I find there is something that speaks comfort to this man’s soul. Look at the second half of Proverbs 13:12. “A longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
Now even though this verse is doling out practical truth in a pithy way, it's dealing it within the confines of our temporary reality thus only offering temporary relief. Yet I am humbled as I read this passage again. It reminds me that even though it feels like a temporary relief, it is meant to be a growing, life-giving hope. The more I dwell in the second half of this verse I realize the imagery used is purposeful. Unless your name is Jack and you have magic beans, plants of any substance do not grow to full maturity over night. So it’s safe to say trees like this take time.
You see even though I have been saved to know eternity with the God of the universe; I am still called to “work out” my salvation in the here and now. For “it is God who works… to will and to act according to His good purpose” as a hope deferred resonates all through out our broken, tainted story lines. I guess I am learning that living in hope takes time. It has to be cultivated. It has to be refined moment by moment by turning to the only place we can go to find hope – the feet of Christ. Here again I defer once more to C.S. Lewis. "Relying on God has to begin all over again every day AS IF nothing had yet been done..."
We are to begin every day in a posture of desperation knowing that only Christ holds life in His hand. It is in this daily stance where we allow Christ the time to grow us enough to know Him as the HOPE of glory for all eternity, including the here and now. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life… it’s a truth that resonates.
Thank you, Captain Obvious! I know the author of Proverbs possessed an intelligence and wisdom beyond any capacity I might have. But this one little verse seems like the most glaring understatement in Scripture.
Please excuse me for the irreverence that seems to pour forth as I put words to paper. I mean in no way to dishonor this passage. It’s just that every time I hear or read this passage something in my soul wants to sound off, especially lately. It seems no matter what I do or whom I meet the truth in this passage resonates through out all walks of humanity. Hope deferred makes the heart sick…
It resonates when the economy tumbles and families can no longer afford their homes. It resonates in the cries of a mother giving birth to a stillborn child. It resonates in the ache of a sister grieving over the loss of her 23-year-old brother to cancer. It resonates in the voice of an elderly man who faces the reality that his body can no longer do the simplest of tasks that his mind envisions. It resonates in our rejections, failures, shortcomings, dysfunctional behaviors, and unhealed hurts. Hope deferred makes the heart sick… it resonates!
If it’s ok with you, allow me a little tangent. As a journalist by erudition I have learned to see life as a story that holds many interwoven subplots. There are similarities that run in the storylines of every person on earth. An obvious subplot is satisfaction. In many ways we are driven daily by our need to be satisfied. This need to be satisfied moves that woman to find the perfect job. It arouses that man to fall in love with a woman and pursue a life long relationship with her. It stirs me daily to leave logs in the porcelain throne in my downstairs bathroom. No matter how profound or superficial our longing, the fact is we move in this way because we "hope" that thing will satisfy the need that has been aroused in the moment.
You see I believe that we as humans have instilled in us this desire, this yearning to experience more in this life than what we know presently. And this unction draws us forward. In this life I have come to see hope as the beautiful bastard child that bears witness to the image in which all humanity was fashioned. Let me explain.
The power of hope is that it depicts life (or even a moment) where all is as it should be - or more appropriately said all is as we think it should be. That picture before us entices us to take steps we may otherwise be unwilling to take. Yet, even though hope here on earth carries a beauty that woos us to continue, the sad thing is we find that the hope we cling to on this earth is tainted, incomplete, and unfulfilling. It’s a bastard child. It displays all the promise of that which gives life but we are left wanting. So, instead of knowing the splendor and strength of a hope that causes our humanity to yearn for more, in the frailty and brokenness of this life we come to know the disillusionment of a hope deferred, denied, and destroyed.
As depressing as this reality is, it still doesn’t negate this innate sense that we need to be satisfied. I agree with what author C.S. Lewis once penned. "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy then the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." This desire in us reveals that we were created to know more than the false hope for which we tend to settle. So it stands that any temporary thing in which we place our hope to satisfy us will only take the edge off temporarily at best. More times than not, those things don’t do anything but leave us disheartened.
I am no stranger to this tension as a Christ follower. I have put my hope in the One who is called Immanuel – God with us! I have chosen to respond by entrusting my life to the Lord of heaven and earth – the ETERNAL ONE, the One who holds satisfaction in His hand. Yet, I still struggle daily with disappointment. I still sin against God and fall short of expectations – my own and those that others put on me. The world is still tainted and that which is just and right gets trampled by the fallen reality we know. Have you seen the news lately? Floods and tornadoes kill people, people kill people, and even swine kill people.
With all this in the landscape of my view, I fight to believe daily. I find myself echoing Peter’s confession in John 6:68 "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life…” And as I do I find there is something that speaks comfort to this man’s soul. Look at the second half of Proverbs 13:12. “A longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
Now even though this verse is doling out practical truth in a pithy way, it's dealing it within the confines of our temporary reality thus only offering temporary relief. Yet I am humbled as I read this passage again. It reminds me that even though it feels like a temporary relief, it is meant to be a growing, life-giving hope. The more I dwell in the second half of this verse I realize the imagery used is purposeful. Unless your name is Jack and you have magic beans, plants of any substance do not grow to full maturity over night. So it’s safe to say trees like this take time.
You see even though I have been saved to know eternity with the God of the universe; I am still called to “work out” my salvation in the here and now. For “it is God who works… to will and to act according to His good purpose” as a hope deferred resonates all through out our broken, tainted story lines. I guess I am learning that living in hope takes time. It has to be cultivated. It has to be refined moment by moment by turning to the only place we can go to find hope – the feet of Christ. Here again I defer once more to C.S. Lewis. "Relying on God has to begin all over again every day AS IF nothing had yet been done..."
We are to begin every day in a posture of desperation knowing that only Christ holds life in His hand. It is in this daily stance where we allow Christ the time to grow us enough to know Him as the HOPE of glory for all eternity, including the here and now. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life… it’s a truth that resonates.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Lord, I Come (Here's my life)
This is a worship song I wrote/recorded back in my college days. If you would like to hear it, download it using the link below. If you are a musician, feel free to use this when you play or lead worship. The lyrics and chords are below... God bless.
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/685627050/eb91608f254115d9faad8d4cd0868234
Intro
Lord, I come to this place
holding up empty open hands.
Lord, I come it’s by your grace,
I am searching for the strength to stand.
v1
Lord, I come to this place
holding up empty open hands.
Lord, I come it’s by your grace,
You have promised me the strength to stand.
In You I’ve found all things,
I don’t have to search for who I am.
In You I’ve found my everything,
I’ve been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.
chorus
Here’s my life, take me now.
I have nothing of my own.
Here’s my life and I will bow
to You and You Alone.
v2
I am frail and I am weak
with nothing else to offer but my all.
I do fail but I still seek,
even when my back's against the wall.
So here I wait only for You
listening closely for Your call.
You’re my love, I know Your true,
so here at Your feet I fall.
Chords
Intro & verses: E/B/C#m/A-B
Chorus: E/B/A/B-A
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/
Intro
Lord, I come to this place
holding up empty open hands.
Lord, I come it’s by your grace,
I am searching for the strength to stand.
v1
Lord, I come to this place
holding up empty open hands.
Lord, I come it’s by your grace,
You have promised me the strength to stand.
In You I’ve found all things,
I don’t have to search for who I am.
In You I’ve found my everything,
I’ve been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.
chorus
Here’s my life, take me now.
I have nothing of my own.
Here’s my life and I will bow
to You and You Alone.
v2
I am frail and I am weak
with nothing else to offer but my all.
I do fail but I still seek,
even when my back's against the wall.
So here I wait only for You
listening closely for Your call.
You’re my love, I know Your true,
so here at Your feet I fall.
Chords
Intro & verses: E/B/C#m/A-B
Chorus: E/B/A/B-A
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