People of Hope

 "We are people of HOPE not of despair."  This was the strong message presented by our Pastor yesterday at church.  "Despair is not from the Lord," he added.  The words convicted me.  How often have I fallen into despair? I am a glass half-empty kind of person.  I admit it...I can't deny it.  When the going gets rough, I shake in my boots.  I panic.  I turn my eyes to the storm and all I can see are the waves.  All I can feel are the winds.  My circumstances take over and I easily fall into despair.

My devotional reading this morning wrapped it up with the question:  "What can you do today to "look up" above your circumstances and see God?"  The question is inspired by the opening verses of Psalm 121:

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121: 1-2

I believe these verses contain the answer to the question of how we walk on this Earth and through the circumstances of our lives and surroundings as people of Hope.  The answer is to remember to whom we belong, and who is in charge.  The answer is to remember that the answers are not here.  The answer is to remember that we need to look UP for the answers, for the battles we wage are not of this realm.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6: 12) Therefore, they must be fought up there, with the weapons of the spirit.

Then...what can I do to look up?  Well, just that: look up and pray that the Maker of Heaven and Earth and of the entire universe empowers me with the armor of God and that I may have the willingness to wear it daily in practical ways.  I look up with my belt of truth buckled around my waist so I recognize the lies of the enemy and keep my Hope on the Truth!  I look up with my breastplate of righteousness in place so my soul and my heart are protected from the evil and decay of this world.  I look up with my feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace so I can run to The Word anytime I feel attacked and find the Peace of the Truth in Scripture.  I look up by taking up the shield of faith, with which I can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one; and hold it in front of me instead of poisoning myself with the lies the world wants to feed me...so my eyes are not distracted and tempted to look at the deception handed out to me, and I continue to look up.  I continue to look up with my helmet of Salvation protecting my mind, and the sword of the Word of God as my weapon of choice.

In other words, I look up by being proactive and deciding to look up.  I look up by rejecting what the world has to offer and by seeking to be a person of Hope, instead... guarded by the Holy Spirit and His Armor, and trusting that this world and all that is in it is The Lord's.  I look up realizing that my help and my hope come from Him.

May our days be filled with the kind of Hope that helps us to look up, for our help is not from this world, but from above.  It comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.  Amen!