There is deep beauty in Daniel 3:18. "Even if He does not, we will not accede to your command which contradicted that of what our God has told us." How many of us pray this way? What is expectancy in prayers when we have no submission in following? One gives birth to the other, so much so that the wrong kind of expectancy- one that births out of non-submission, the wrong kind of relationship- leads to disappointment. The bigger the expectation, the bigger the disappointment. Perhaps that age old wisdom rings true in light of this understanding. Expectancy, when expressed via mere wilfulness instead of genuine faith, kills rather than gives hope.
What calls for greater celebration than the returning of a wretched child; what calls for more rejoicing than the bucking up of a wasted man? That, is only human. I take my faith seriously. So those sentiments apply also, to every spiritual revival and every eternal salvation.
I thank my God deeply each time I hear an encouraging story about you.
Yet, I am not talking about the explicit loss in wander expressed by the best worship performers, nor am I referring to the devoted followers of the biggest crowd-drawing conferences/concerts in town. I am talking about an inward transformation- call it alignment if you might- that changes one's outlook of life. It is about the returning of the throne of life to the Lord of life; it is about repositioning the self in view of the bigger plan; it is about the shaking up of priorities in eternal perspectives. Implicitly, that also means lots of discomfort, lots of disappointments, lots of anger, lots of frustration even; simply because we live in a fallen world.
So hopelessness is very real. The closer you are to God, the more real that sentiment becomes. I love my God, but the body is nowhere near that. Sometimes expectations make living in a Christian community much harder than it really is. "I thought you are a Christian, but why..."
I came through that, and I came close to leaving church, leaving friends, leaving the community altogether more than once. Oh come on, stop going on and on about church-hopping... I'm not. I am talking about dealing with hopelessness.
What happens when you see no way out; what happens when we seem like we are heading into a dead dead end; what happens if what your church does looks like nothing that resembles the church of Acts; what if you know you are right and no one listens...
Quitting is one option; running away the easy way out; but don't ever let it become the default pattern in your life. There is a prayer that is very lacking in today's society- the one that the friends of Daniel prayed in Daniel 3:18, "even if He doesn't." This is a prayer severely absent in today's society; and we forget that when we live for God, we stop living for ourselves, and it is Christ who lives in me. There is a reason why God puts you where you are, and the age-old wisdom continues to stand "be the change you want to see". Be like those friends, keep trying, keep attempting to make a difference, in the name of honouring God and bettering the Body, keep going.
Don't give up hope. Don't give up. Don't ever ever give up. For, here comes the Truth, our hope is not in the betterment of situation nor circumstance- even if healing doesn't come; even if the society becomes worse; even if we get persecuted; even if my loved ones do not survive; even if.... I stand steadfast to my God, BECAUSE my hope is in my Maker.
