Change and Hope

In 2008, Barack Obama promised he would fundamentally change America and used the campaign slogan of Hope and Change. I will leave the political commentary for another time, but I wanted to use his slogan as a jumping off point to talk about what scripture says about hope and change.

Romans 12:2 begins by telling us that we should not conform to this world, but "be transformed by the renewing of our mind." One telltale sign of being a Christian is that of a changed life. Christ didn't die so that we can continue to live empty lives, He came to give us life, and life more abundantly (John 10:10). So, that means we will change. He will change our minds, our attitudes, our behaviors, and most importantly our purposes in life. His ultimate goal is to change us into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). The word Christian was first used as a slur to mean "little Christ." It denoted someone who acted like Jesus, today in America it could just be labeled an "alternative lifestyle." In other words, if Christ is in your life there should be some sort of outward visible change in how you live.

Often, change brings conflict within and without. As a Christian, we often struggle with old sinful desires until God replaces them. Our new life may mean severing ties with old friends. All of this may lead us to difficult times and decisions in life, but God has a purpose for these trials and tribulations. Romans 5:1-5 begins with us having peace with God through Christ, but in there are also some difficulties:

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we glory in afflictions also, knowing that afflictions work out patience, and patience works out experience, and experience works out hope. And hope does not make us ashamed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us. (Rom 5:1-5)

The purpose of these difficulties is so that God can bring us through them, and in doing so, we learn to trust in Him. This gives us hope that when new difficulties arise, God is at work changing us into the image of Christ and that He will lead and guide us through.

I say all of that as a lead in to the point of this post. Over the last few months, I can see and am consciously aware of God changing me inside and out. For the first time in a long while, I am an independent adult male (sounds wrong doesn't it?). Through this independence, I am able for the first time in my life to really find out who I am and see the man God is making me into. All of this change is giving me hope that God isn't done with me in this life. That He plans to bless me "with a future filled with hope--a future of success, not of suffering" (Jer 29:11, CEV). So, I wish to thank President Obama for the intro to this post. Now about the economy.....

My Prayer

My friend Mack loves the prayer of Jabez. But in reading one of my favorite sections of scripture, I found a prayer that is the cry of my heart that I had never noticed before. It is found in Exodus 33:12-13, "Moses said to the Lord, 'See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people’; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.'" 

Nestled among these words I found the very simple yet profound cry of my heart, "Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight." In these words we see the true beauty of knowing God. When we find favor in His sight, we find a desire to continue in His favor. We find a desire to know Him and to please Him. We do not find the desire to be blessed with any other blessing other than His presence. It is a consuming fire within us and proves Hebrews 12:29, "for our God is a consuming fire." It is the same fire Jeremiah felt in 20:9, "f I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name, then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot." This same fire burns within me, and my prayer is that of Moses, "Show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight." It is the one consuming thing in my life that burns away all the dross of other fears or desires that might consume me. Praise be to God for His unspeakable gift.