Tragedy, difficulty, unexpected events, and suffering are all a part of life. When you take those hurtful elements of life and place them within the context of 2020, they can hit even harder.
Throughout this year you have probably asked the question "When will this end?" In some conversations that I find myself in I feel as if some people are more excited for 2021 than they are for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the entire holiday season.
Not to be a pessimist but the hope of a new year is typically a false hope. Just because the calendar flips from one year to another that does not necessarily mean that the chaos of life is going to just magically disappear.
Some of us may not be as prone to hope for a new year, but instead maybe you have picked up the pen of your life and attempted to write out the outcome of what's next. This can often times be an attempt to control your future. You are trying to create and control a semblance of hope. The difficulty of this approach is that hope within the context of everything that you can understand and control is not hope, it's manipulation, and your manipulated outcome is not guaranteed. The tough truth is that your manipulated hope is often times not what is best for others, but it just plays out within the context what is best for you.
Where do we turn?
What can we do?
In the middle of difficulty.
In the middle of uncertainty.
In the middle of not knowing what is next.
In the middle of confusion.
How can we find hope?
Some of you are unfamiliar with the Scriptures, some of you aren't. Wherever you are in life I would encourage you to look at the Scriptures. Turn to Exodus 14 and see how God delivered his people across the red sea. God had just freed his people from slavery, but their former master, Pharaoh was in pursuit of them to bring them back into slavery. They had been wandering in the wilderness. They had moved on from the past but they had not yet reached the destination.
Why would God free them from slavery just for Pharaoh to return and bring them back into the past?
After being enslaved for 400 years and then wandering in the wilderness they probably thought to themselves "When will this end?"
Where do we find hope when we come to this place in our lives? Seemingly without hope and not knowing what is next, in the middle of an unpredictable situation.
Moses was the leader of Israel at this time. I'm fascinated by how Moses chooses to lead in this moment, along with God's response to Moses.
But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will perform for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again, ever. The Lord will fight for you, while you keep silent." Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. As for you, lift up your staff and reach out with your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. - Exodus 14:13-16
God called his people to move forward and he empowered Moses to lead them forward even in the midst of uncertainty. Whatever you're facing, and saying "When will this end?" The answer is not to step into the past, but instead step forward into what God has for you. You may see an impossible situation in front of you, but God is calling you to FACE IT and move forward.
When you face it and move forward you will be able to rest in similar truth that Moses declared in Exodus 15.
The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is a warrior; The Lord is His name. - Exodus 15:2-3
Never step into the past. God is always calling you forward. Even in the uncertainty we know that he is a warrior fighting for us. Place your hope in Him!
For more on this idea check out this message.
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