I was doing my Bible study homework this morning and was struck anew by Romans 4:18-21, which says, "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed."
(This is one of those phrases in Scriptures that gives me a thrill. (And that makes me think of Anne of Green Gables and her conversation with Matthew on the way home to Green Gables for the first time.) That does something inside me that I can't ever seem to find the right words to describe. I love those!)
What stood out to me is that I give up hope all too easily. I hope and pray and believe God for something big, and when it's not forthcoming in whatever timeframe I determine is reasonable, I give up. I quit. I stop believing and doubt the promise God gave.
I don't want to be a quitter.
As I did my homework, as I saw God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, as I thought of the limitations Abraham and Sarah had (hello? physically impossibilities here!), and then saw in Hebrews 11:12 that God gave Abraham a whole nation of children too many to count when all he wanted was one son--
I heard God say, "Against all hope, believe in hope. Believe me anyway, Joanne. Don't quit."
And as I looked at different translations to get a better understanding of what hoping against hope looks like, I came up with my own.
I love words, love different ways of saying the same thing. And so I copied and cut and pasted a whole bunch of different translations together to come up with mine. And I put my name in it.
And as I put my own version together, I kept the past tense. I am not there yet, this is not fully true of me yet, but against hope I am hoping that this will be true of me. That someday my name and my story will be in the hall of faith and that this is what it will say.
Romans 4:18-21, plus a little Ephesians 3:20-21 thrown in at the end for good measure (Joanne’s version)
Even when there was no
reason to hope—when hope had run out and it all seemed hopeless—even then—Joanne
kept hoping anyway. She continued believing God. She chose to live and love not
on the basis of what she could or couldn’t do, but on what God said he would
do.
Her
faith did not weaken as she considered her own ability, limitations, or questions.
She didn’t focus on her own strength and say, “It’s hopeless. I give up.”
Instead she accepted those things matter of factly and believed God anyway.
She never doubted or questioned God’s promises. Her faith was strengthened and
gave her comfort and she praised God for it, giving all the credit to him.
She didn’t tiptoe around God’s promises to her and ask him cautiously skeptical questions. “How can this be? Will you really come through? Can I trust you?” No! Fully satisfied and absolutely assured that God was not only able, but also mighty and willing to keep his Word to her, she jumped into the deep end of those promises and came up strong, ready for God, convinced that God would do what he said he would do. And not only that, but that when it was all said and done it would be far more than she could have ever dared to imagine or guess in her wildest dreams.
Glory
to God! Praise him with all that you are! What a mighty God we serve.
What is the difference between hope and faith?
Posted by: mum2isaac | February 13, 2010 at 07:47 AM
Amen, Sister!!! If you need someone to proof read or transcribe your Bible study, I'm the woman for that job! And I used to be a transcriptionist, so that's not a hallow offer. And I'd do it for free just to read/hear your Bible study.
And I saw your tweet to the left - and I LOVE Pei Wei!!!
Posted by: Kim Feth | February 13, 2010 at 07:57 AM
Hebrews 11:1
Posted by: mum2isaac | February 13, 2010 at 08:36 AM
Amen and amen. I needed to hear this this morning. I'm teary eyed as I read this coupled with my own study this morning comparing a verse from the Amplified version - Matthew 18:19 "Again I tell you, if two of you on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever [anything and everything] they may ask, it will come to pass and be done for them by My Father in heaven." You've encouraged my belief and hope this morning.
Love and blessings across the miles.
Posted by: Lora | February 13, 2010 at 09:20 AM
i am right there with you sister. i am a word lover. a WORD lover. when He speaks to me, i love to list all the Ways He speaks to me, to flesh it out, if you will. This post meant a lot to me. Bless you sweetie, God is doing a new thing in you, i can feel it. It is exciting!!!
Posted by: mzzterry | February 13, 2010 at 11:47 AM
Hi Joanne--I used to work with Toben at NavPress. Thank you SO much for posting this--it's exactly what I needed. My husband Ben has been unemployed for almost 14 months now with no end in sight. And while God has ALWAYS been faithful in taking care of us, it's been hard to hope. SO hard--especially while trying to encourage Ben. These are the kinds of things that God brings along to whisper in my ear "keep going--in ME, you can do it!" Bless you!!
Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=719071139 | February 13, 2010 at 12:06 PM
I've read Romans 4 so many times (3x thru my Believing God workbook). :) LOVE it.
Love your "Joanne's" version. I think it might just apply (like CRAZY!) if I used "Marla" instead. :)
Posted by: Marla Taviano | February 13, 2010 at 07:32 PM
This thought has been on my mind lately and you conveyed it so beautifully. Thank you for posting this. It's like the wind beneath my wings!
Posted by: The NON-Superwoman | February 13, 2010 at 11:33 PM
Every morning I have to go back to Him and in order to keep hoping.
This morning, this is where He sent me to remind me I am not the only one "going thru a thing;" to remind me that I am not alone in the struggle of just wanting to give up; to remind me that against all visible signs of hope...I need to continue to believe that He is right there with me; to remind me that He IS Hope.
Love you girl. Praying for you and the things we both hope for and in.
Posted by: Susan | February 14, 2010 at 12:20 PM
LOVE that Joanne! I think I may do a little something like that for myself! Great idea!
Posted by: Kristy | February 14, 2010 at 06:18 PM
Oh, friend, how I needed to read that today!
Posted by: Melissa @ Breath of Life | February 15, 2010 at 11:58 AM
Joanne, your blog is such an encouragement to me. Thank you so much for this. The Lord has been whispering "hope" to me for the last couple of weeks and my heart jumped when I read your paraphrase at the end of this post. That is also the person I want to be. For myself, for my husband, for our family, for my church. Believing God and hoping. Thank you!
Posted by: Kristen | February 21, 2010 at 06:51 PM