This morning, my husband had an unexpected day off, and he joined my boys and me at the breakfast table. He read us a post from Paul Tripp’s New Morning Mercies on holiness and hope in Christ, and my table became a place of eye-opening worship. (I was a little put off at first that my usual alone-time was invaded, but more about that later.)
As we read, we opened Exodus 15:11.
Who among the gods
is like you, Lord?
Who is like you—
majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
working wonders?
Then we flipped to 1 Samuel 2:2.
There is no one holy like the Lord;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
We wrapped up with Isaiah’s account of encountering God personally.
Your turn: Read Isaiah 6:1-8.
I’ll wait. It’s worth it.
After we finished, there was a holy pause at my breakfast table. There was quiet contemplation. Then my youngest observed:
“You know what? The Bible says God is our rock. He is what we hold on to… where we get our bearing. That means all those people who have other idols, little gods, they literally hold onto a rock.” Yeah, bud, you get it.
And amidst all this digging, I came face-to-face with a thought that I’m not sure I’ve consciously processed before:
The only way people can be aware of their brokenness, their desperate hunger for something beyond this life, and the source for fulfillment, is to encounter God Himself.Click To TweetThe wild part? We can become vehicles for that encounter when we take the time to get face-to-face with Jesus on our own. When we do that, when we read His word and ask Him to fill us with His Spirit and truly cultivate intimacy with Him, He transforms US, and it’s visible all over us. Without that, no amount of being religious, practicing religious traditions, pulling up our bootstraps and trying to “do good,” or be kind, or not judge – none of that will have any power to bind broken hearts, heal fractured communities, or transform lives.
As my dad said when I poured out this “aha moment” (in one of our frequent similar calls where we stumble over each other to express what we’re learning), “it’s too simple for words, and more complicated than we can imagine.”
Without Jesus, there is no hope. With Jesus, all is hope, and we move from soul-dead beings into LIFE.
If God isn’t real, if He isn’t Holy, if Jesus didn’t die and rise again, innocent and all-powerful and taking our place, there’s no meaning to this life – it stinks, and then we die. And that there is a problem.
But if He DID, and He IS, and His kids simmer in those truths and in His very presence, then there is HOPE in Christ, there is meaning to life, and there is purpose to our every living moment. Then we can be vehicles to deliver that message of hope and life. THEN, our homes become places where love is poured out.
Our tables become altars where change happens and holy encounters occur regularly.
As we dwell with Christ and reflect His character, our neighborly walks with our pets and our chats with our co-workers over mundane tasks can become opportunities to radiate grace.Click To TweetThe world says “live your truth,” “don’t judge,” and “you do you.” Those things? They all lead to isolation and self-worship, which eventually leads to spiritual starvation and death to hope. Getting before a Holy God who’s utterly above and beyond our wildest dreams and realizing, with certainty, that we are NOTHING and He is EVERYTHING and He wants to complete us?
This is life-giving hope.
Inspiring (awe-struck, hope-filled) welcome,
Angela
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