Eugune Peterson - I love that guy. He gave us a gem of a Bible translation, The Message. Many years ago he also wrote a fabulous little book called A Long Obedience in the Same Direction which is not exactly at the top of the popularity charts at the Christian bookstore these days, but is a fabulous book nonetheless.
In one chapter, he addresses the issue of hope in suffering through Psalm 130. There's great thoughts here to shape our thoughts around truth. We know we are not the only ones going through difficulty...and so I share. Eugene writes...
Hoping does not mean doing nothing. It is not fatalistic resignation. It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions. It is not compelled to work away at keeping up appearances with a bogus spirituality. It is the opposite of desperate and panicky manipulations, of scurrying and worrying.
And hoping is not dreaming. It is not spinning an illusion or fantasy to protect us from our boredom or our pain. It means a confident, alert expectation that God will do what he said he will do...It is willingness to let God do it his way and in his time. It is the opposite of making plans that we demand that God put into effect, telling him both how and when to do it. That is not hoping in God but bullying God.
...
The psalm does not exhort us to put up with suffering; it does not explain it or explain it away. It is, rather, a powerful demonstration that our place in the depths is not out of bounds from God...We are persuaded that God's way with us is redemption and that the redemption, not the suffering, is ultimate.
We are persuaded that God's way with us is redemption and that the redemption, not the suffering, is ultimate.
That's good stuff there, friends. Let's believe it. Let's pray it. And we'll see God do it.
Powerful! As always, praying for your family!
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