Sometimes you meet a person and you just click. You can’t really explain why, but the friendship develops quickly, and you feel as though you’ve known each other for years, even though you’ve only just met. That’s how I felt about a friend that I recently learned had passed away. She was quite a few years older than me, old enough to be my mother as a matter of fact, but our friendship was more like sisters than anything else. Our lives took very different paths some years ago; I got married, she went through a bitter divorce, and we lost touch. I remember our last conversation like it was yesterday, because I was dealing with an anxiety ridden situation and she was as well. Given that she had a little over 20 years longer on this earth than me, I asked her if life gets easier as you get older. She replied emphatically, “No! It gets much harder.” This answer broke my heart; it does so even now. I think she believed this at the core of her being, and from all appearances it is exactly the condition that manifested for the remaining years of her life.
I don’t believe for one second that life has to be that way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no stranger to its complexities. I know that it can put a whippin’ on ya if you’re not careful, as my great grandmother used to say, but we’re in the game, so to speak. We’re amongst the living, and while we yet live, we ought to be in it to win it. In John 10:10, Jesus Christ makes us very aware why he came. He also lets us in on his opposition, and how dastardly evil and destructive the enemy is. Jesus Christ put it all out there when he said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Jesus doesn’t want us to be ignorant about what we’re up against. He also wanted us to know that the life he’s made available far exceeds any tricks and darts the devil will try and throw our way.
The Wham Factor
My friend felt extremely railroaded by life when her husband fell in love with a much younger woman. He left her and her daughter, and financially, she was not able to continue living the lifestyle she once had. We had many conversations about trusting God, and she would say to me, “Oh I trust Him, I couldn’t make it without Him!” This is true for every person alive, but Heavenly Father doesn’t want us thinking that we have no other recourse in life but to be the devil’s punching bag time and time again. She believed in God, but didn’t believe that she could surpass the limitations of her condition.
I think she stopped believing in the possibilities of life because she was so crushed by the wham factor of her husband’s infidelity. It caught her completely off-guard, and she was shocked. When some of us endure something like this, it can cause a deer-in-headlights reaction that many never get over. It becomes easier to look at things through a negative lens than to hope with joyful expectation. Romans 12:12 (NIV) tells us, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” This is a lesson in grace, not for wallowing in pain. These are preparation steps that lead to the next level of growth and blessings. We can be joyful in hope because our God will never fail us. We can be patient in affliction because trouble doesn’t last always, and we should be faithful in prayer by trusting that God hears us and is faithful to come to our aid.
Older, Wiser, Better
In Jeremiah 29:11(NLT), Heavenly Father told His people, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Hope is an expectation of the best. It’s the mental and emotional energy that signals everything around us of our intention to increase in faith. God’s plans for us are good plans, not for disaster, but to give us a good future. This is where our hope should be placed.
No, things do not always turn out as we expect, but by the same token, we do not always do what we’re placed on this earth to do. Romans 8:28(NLT) tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” ALL things will work together for our good. They will coagulate, cooperate, and converge at a point where we are lifted higher in every way, but we must do our part. We must work with Him and not against Him. We are to love Him with our whole hearts, and walk according to the purpose for which we were called.
In Jeremiah 29:11, Heavenly Father has given us a foundation upon which we can build our lives in joyful expectation. We can’t let this slip away from us, and some do. When we get beyond the fifty mark, many of us start to head south in our expectations, in our emotional and physical health, and in our dreams and aspirations. We lose elasticity because instead of growing closer to God, building our faith by staying in His Word, and being guided by the indwelling Holy Spirit to fulfill our purpose, we become more and more distracted by what is happening in the world. This is a recipe for wasting time, and losing momentum and stamina on this journey. We cannot use age as an excuse to regress. There are eighty-year-olds running races, keeping in shape, and doing all kinds of extraordinary things, and it is because they dare to hope.
Someone said of my sweet friend that she lived a very simple life. She may have, but she also allowed a setback to paralyze her hopes and keep her from returning to the bubbly and energetic person she once was. Romans 15:13 (NIV) is God’s desire for us. It says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” This is the power that rose Jesus Christ from the dead. It’s the power that can move mountains, and this same power lives in us! God’s way is always elevation, progression, and increase. If we’ll believe bigger in the new year than we did in the prior one, He’ll exceed our expectations.
We ought to be committed to overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit, for this is the Will of God concerning us. Jesus Christ told us in 1John 4:4 that the Spirit within has no equal. He is greater than the devil and his demonic henchman. We are not weaklings, but spiritual powerhouses through Jesus Christ, our Lord! Yes, the challenges of life can become more complex as we grow older, but our level of love, faith, joy, spiritual strength and experience can exceed anything we face. Every year ought to get better and better for those of us who love God and are called according to His purpose. Let’s be committed to make even the smallest change to be wiser and better for Jesus, and to push ourselves beyond our comfort zones in faith. If we’ll do this, hope will yield an existence that always leaves us excited, and our faith will ensure joyous victory, no matter the challenge. Dare to hope!■
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Dare to Hope!” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2018. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.