This is video 5 of 8 in our series, “Where Was God?” This week, to answer this question, we’ll look to the resurrection of Jesus. In the resurrection, we’ll find true hope. We’ll also learn of a very helpful acronym for the word H.O.P.E. Thanks for watching and be sure to tell a friend about Hope Stands.
Archives For sorrow
One of the Hope Stands readers, Hailey, just sent me this powerful acronym for H.O.P.E.: “Hold On, Pain Ends.” We at Hope Stands couldn’t agree more. That’s our passion and God’s promise to you. We want you to know that the pain does not last forever; it is only something that you’re passing through. You won’t remain in it; and it won’t remain. I promise.
Look at the moon and remember this promise, “Hold On, Pain Ends.” The presence of the moon proves that the sun still exists, though you can’t see it in your present darkness. The moon shows us that the sun is still out there, on its way, and we just need to hold on a little longer. This night will pass.
Or look to Jesus, who came back as living proof of hope. He stood before aching people with the promise of H.O.P.E. When his friend Mary was plunged into sorrow, Jesus stood before her and said, “Hold on, pain ends.” When the disciples were paralyzed by fear, Jesus broke into the place where they locked themselves and announced, “Hold on, pain ends.” When Thomas was plagued with doubt, Jesus entered into his hurt and spoke, “Hold on, pain ends.” Jesus wants to enter into every crisis, with arms waving and voice raised, shouting, “Hold on, pain ends!”
Motioning to his resurrected body, he smiles. This is what happens to pain: it all ends in life and victory. Nothing or no one has the last laugh but Jesus.
Hold on, pain ends.
© Samuel Kee, 2012
Allow yourself to be His beloved.
We have a choice of whether or not to let negativity reign in our lives. This is not because we did something to stop it, but because God has done something to stop it. God went to the cross, where he absorbed all the evil we have to offer. He stopped it on the cross. It goes no further.
Unless, of course, we allow it.
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey its passions” (Romans 6:12).
Yes, yes, we know we’re weak and frail, being “mortal” as the writer Paul says. But even our mortality, our weakness, has been made stronger than sin. Even our mortality doesn’t have to obey the passions of sin, for the cross breaks its power. So it is up to us: are we going to allow evil to reign in our lives? It doesn’t have to, you know. Unless, of course, you want it to.
We have a choice to make today. Either we allow our self to be ruled by death and all his friends, or we allow ourselves to be God’s. The next verse says,
“Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life” (Romans 6:13).
Give yourself to wickedness or give yourself to God. The power is yours to choose.
Nothing is standing in your way. God has made a way and the path is clear. You’re going to have to allow yourself to be free. As you writhe in the emotional pain of your life–the deep and real pain–there is an exit in view. You must allow yourself to see it, to go for it, to be released. You must allow yourself to be God’s, to be loved, to be his beloved. You must allow yourself to be empowered, healed, beautified, and ravished with unconditional love. You must allow yourself to refuse to hear the lies, to halt the feelings of rejection, to step off of the platform of inferiority. You must allow God to pull you out of the pit, clean you up, and turn you into his precious bride, his courageous man.
There is nothing in heaven or on earth stopping you.
© Samuel Kee, 2012
It feels far better to be skiing.
There are two sides of repentance and we need to have both. The first is the intentional act of turning away from the things that keep us from God. This looks a lot like grief and sorrow, as we ache over our sin. We are upset with ourselves and we do not want to love other things more than we love God. The second side of repentance is turning toward Jesus and grabbing hold of him by faith. We tie our life to his.
It makes me think of waterskiing. When you water ski, you first dive down into the water and wait. The water is often dark and cool, as you bob up and down with your feet awkwardly attached to the skis. Now, just because you are wearing a life vest and skis, this does not mean that you are waterskiing. So long as you’re still in the water, you haven’t skied yet.
You need to grab hold of the rope and allow the boat to pull you out.
Sometimes we think that repentance is just going down into the cool waters of sorrow. This line of thinking has us believe that just feeling bad for ourselves is true repentance. And the worse you feel about your sin, the better a job you’re doing at repenting. Perhaps even the best at repentance are those who really beat themselves up, who constantly feel the weight of their sin on their lives.
But just because you’re in the water does not mean that you’re skiing.
True repentance means both getting into the chilly water and allowing Jesus to pull you out. There comes a point in your repentance when enough is enough and you have to allow the strong motor of Jesus to pull you out. We don’t exercise true faith if we do not believe that Jesus can pull us out of our sin. In other words, if you don’t think that Jesus can change your sinful habits, then you’ve given up and are willing to become a human buoy. You’re not skiing and you’re not exercising true faith.
There comes a point in your sorrow when you have to say enough is enough, and allow Jesus to pull you to the surface. There comes a point in your faith when you have to experience the joy and thrill of racing over the surface of the water, as God pulls you to places you’d never thought possible.
Repentance is not just being honest about your sin; that’s not enough. Repentance is also being honest about the power of Jesus to help you. He can pull you out if you grab hold of him.
I know it feels pretty good and pretty religious to put on a glum face and feel really bad about how you’ve really messed up; yes, that indicates a high level of spiritual awareness. But it’s only half of the story, for it feels far better to be skiing.
© 2010 by Samuel Kee
