For you today, whether in a painful reality that doesn’t look like changing or maybe you have failed God and others, Sarah is your hope. This is the Bible story throughout. This is the gospel. Do not be deceived into thinking by your own efforts you can change a thing. It is all of Him and all because of Him and His promises for your life.
“For it is written: “Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child; shout for joy and cry aloud, you who were never in labour; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” 28 Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.” (Galatians 4 v 27-28)
But how do you live in such a circumstance?
I am pausing for a few days to meditate on Isaiah 54 before we continue in Galatians 4 to try and answer that one question. For there are many in exile, whether as a victim or because of their own sin. There are many in situations where they have done nothing wrong to equal their predicament. How do you live?
• We need to find a different perspective so that we can dig out hope in the contradictions of our life.
“For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds”Hebrews 12:3.
The cross is 2 pieces of wood running contrary to each other. The cross is our thoughts crossing God’s thoughts, our will crossing His will and our desired answers crossing God’s given answers. It is this cross we are called to carry, “not my will but yours be done.”
It seems God allows contradictions in our lives. Will we become broken under the hand of God, a surrendered servant, or will we fight against it and become bitter?
Stephen was stoned and died, but Paul was stoned and lived.
Philip was supernaturally transported, but Paul was shipwrecked and snake-bitten.
Peter walked on water, Paul floated on the water for 3 days.
James was beheaded while Peter was released.
How do we explain these things?
Jeremiah 8:15 “We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror.” That can be said of us all. We all hope for the best. We all want our situations to be perfect, to be better at least.
It is true of what we want for each other. We don’t want one another to face painful reality and so we speak ‘faith’ over one another, ‘you will be healed’ ‘you will get this’ ‘you will prosper’ etc. But what if we are wrong? What if God wants us to live in a contradiction for a while?
Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great, describes a conversation he had with Admiral Jim Stockdale, the highest ranking US military officer in the ‘Hanoi Hilton’ prisoner of war camp during the Vietnam War. In his 8 years of imprisonment, he and others were appallingly treated.
He asked the question of Stockdale: “Who didn’t make it out?”
“Oh that’s easy, the optimists,” was the reply.
“The optimists? I don’t understand.”
The optimists were the ones who said, “We’re going to be out by Christmas” and then Christmas would come and go. Then they’d say “We’re going to be out by Easter” then Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.”
Stockdale then turned to Collins and said, “This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end – which you can never afford to lose- with the discipline to confront the brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
It is a similar story told by Viktor Frankl of one of her inmates in Auschwitz who was dying of an illness but because she had been told they would be freed by Christmas was holding on to life. She died on Christmas Day when they were not freed.
Paul says in Philippians 2: 12 “continue to work out your salvation.”
Dig out hope from a reality that we cannot be blind to, that needs sorting out.
So the contradiction that you find yourself in is a painful reality that you cannot ignore nor simply complain about. But you need to dig deep because inside that contradiction is a hope and a realisation that you can find a way even though it looks impossible. In order to find that hope then we must find a different perspective from the viewpoint of ourselves. How do others see my situation? How does God see my situation? What are the benefits right now? Are there opportunities because of this situation?
I recently saw a short video on social media of a lady with severe disabilities. She was being supported to stand by a friend behind her. From one perspective she was helpless, weak and didn’t have anything to offer. Until she began to sing! She has the most beautiful of voices and it brought tears to everyone who was listening including myself.
You can sing even though you are barren and have nothing to sing about. There is hope in the contradiction of your life. Change your perspective.
Missions Paul 