The Strength of Hope

I'll never forget my first day on that job. While going to college, I was able to get a job as a nurses' assistant in the CCU and ICU units of a large teaching hospital. That first day, my supervisor told me to stay with one nurse only and help her with anything she needed. One of her patients was in very critical condition and the nurse needed extra help. In fact, the patient was so critical that he could die at any moment. The family believed the patient had been cursed by someone, so they expressed to the medical team their desire that no matter what, we were to keep their loved one alive! Now all the tests revealed that the patient had been brain dead for a while, but the heart was still beating. Otherwise he had to be on a ventilator to support his breathing and all kinds of medications to keep alive the rest of the organs. This person was on major life support!

It didn't take long into the day before the patient died. The medical team came quickly and was able to resuscitate him. Not long after, it happened again. Even during my lunch break, the team was working on resuscitating one more time the dying man. I started to think that maybe my supervisor was testing me to make sure I wanted to work there. Talk about an intense first day at a new job! People dying, families crying, ventilators, CPR, medications, and all kinds of things to try to keep this person alive! If I came back the next day, maybe I could work there!

But as intense as everything was, what impressed me the most was the family. They believed their loved one was cursed, and they were doing all they could to break that curse. That involved an onion, special water placed in different parts of the room, and chants. I also remember looking at their faces and seeing no signs of hope. It felt dark, very dark.

After resuscitating that patient several times throughout the day, the family finally decided that it was enough and we were going to let nature take its course. Medically speaking, nothing else could be done. I remember the desperation in the patient's sister's face, knowing that soon her beloved brother could be gone. And it wasn't long before the patient's heart stopped once more, and he died. 

The cries that came out of that hospital room were different from anything I had ever heard. Remembering their sound still brings shivers up my spine and tears to my eyes. It was awful. It was a cry of desperation, a cry of no hope. No hope.

I started to think about my own experience with death. I had lost my father to cancer not many years prior, and even though I was very mad at God, I still had the assurance that I was going to be with him again. A few more fleeting years on this earth and we would be reunited, to never more separate. I cried a lot. Loosing a loved one is probably one of the most difficult things we go through in this world. The sadness of loss hurts a lot. But I had hope. I had hope. I have hope!

And this is the difference between one who relies on God and one who relies on other things for strength. With God there is hope. Yes, we go through difficult times. We all do. That's life in the world. Pain comes to everyone. It doesn't matter if we're rich, if we work for God full time, or even if we are innocent, pain comes to everyone. How we deal with that pain is what's different.

God gives us hope and gives us the tools to endure our painful experiences with courage and strength. Psalm 18 says that God arms us with strength and trains our hands for battle. Yes, because there is a battle going on on this earth. A battle between good and evil. And evil brings pain and suffering. But God gives us the strength we need for this battle. Isn't this a wonderful assurance? God prepares us! He trains us! No one wants to go to battle unprepared. So God makes sure we are ready!

And He fills us with His Spirit. And how wonderful God's Spirit is. With Him we also have love, joy, and peace. Wow! We have patience to endure this crazy life. He gives us kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and gives us self control. That's why Jesus said that the peace He gives is different from the world's. When we have His peace, we can go through life with the confidence that we are under His care and everything will turn out well in the end.

If you are going through difficult times, hold on to God! I know it's tempting to think He doesn't care and is far away from us. I go through that temptation all the time. But I was thinking this week, as I was getting frustrated about all the things I've been going through, that it seemed that king David, every time he had a problem, ran to God for help. David knew that God had what he needed. God is truly ever so near to us and has everything we need to help us go through our difficult time with success. You need Him. You need His strength, His peace, and that amazing joy to live life in this crazy world. If things are difficult, run to Him, not away from Him. 

I love how Psalm 23 ends. When we are under God's care, His goodness and love will chase us down, and then we will dwell in His home forever. Doesn't that just fill you up with hope?

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"It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure."

Psalm 18:32

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

John 14:27

"You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great."

Psalm 18:35

Super clean!

The Bible never ceases to amaze me! It's incredible that after all these years, (well, not that many) I still find new things to learn. It's truly an endless well of treasure! And it's incredible that some things I've read over and over and even have them memorized, but I sill find something I hadn't seen before. Amazing!

And what an incredible treasure I found this morning as I read Psalm 51. How many times have a read this? It's a beautiful Psalm, written by a man with a broken heart in desperate need of God's forgiveness, but also full of hope in His love and mercy.

"Have mercy on me, O God" it says. "According to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion blot out my transgression." Psalm 51:1

As I read these words I just had to say that if God was to cleanse David of his transgression according to God's unfailing love and compassion, than David was going to be super clean! Because God's love and compassion never end. They are bigger than the universe! So if God was going to have mercy on David this way, there is NO WAY possible David was going to continue unclean with sin. NO WAY!

David was a forgiven man, as if he had never sinned. So much that God, several years later, reprimanded another king for not being like David who followed God's commands and did only what was right in God's eyes. (I Kings 14:8) How cool is that?! For God, it was as if David, the one who committed adultery and murder, had never done anything wrong. Actually, had only done right in God's eyes.

How wonderful to know that God's forgiveness is complete! He says He'll forgive and forget and He does! And what we do in God's eyes is the most important.

If you are struggling with sin be confident that you can run to God for forgiveness and restoration. His love for you never ends, and neither does His compassion and mercy. He wants to forgive you and restore you. He wants to cleanse you from sin completely. Blot it all out of your life to be gone forever! God will make you whiter than snow. And then He'll look at you and see that you've only done what was right in His eyes.

" Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me (...) Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."

Psalm 51:10,12