Hope Without Limits

That’s why I write to you today.  Who is that child? Me.

The apostle put words to what my heart wants to share with you as I write to to you on day #3 of migraine:

8Though we experience every kind of pressure,
we’re not crushed.
At times we don’t know what to do,
but quitting is not an option.
9We are persecuted by others,
but God has not forsaken us.
We may be knocked down, but not out.
10We continually share in the death of Jesus
in our own bodies so that the resurrection life of Jesus
will be revealed through our humanity.
2 Corinthians 4:8-10 – The Passion Translation

Who is persecuting me – the thief (John 10:10).  He is trying to steal, kill and destroy me with chronic pain.  But you know what?  The thief has already lost.  Jesus surrendered Himself to the worst the enemy could inflict, death.  Death lost.  Jesus won.  (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).  So if I carry the death of Jesus in my body, I also carry His victory!

And so with the Psalmist – first I believe Jesus’ promises to me that His resurrection life will both be revealed through my humanity and give my life to my mortal body.  Then with the hope and faith of a child I speak “I am in deep trouble, help me”. (Psalm 116:10; Romans 8:11).

The faith of a child that believes their Mom and Dad can do absolutely anything.  Why? Because what a child believes is not limited by what they understand.  A child believes what their parents tell them.  They trust in their Father and their Mother and so they hope.  Matthew 18:3 in The Passion Translation puts it this way:

“ Learn this well:
Unless you dramatically change your way of thinking
and become teachable,
and learn about heaven’s kingdom realm
with the wide-eyed wonder of a child,
you will never be able to enter in.

In other words if I have to understand and have it all figured out, there is no room in my world for hope; no space for the kingdom of heaven to enter my world.  It’s my choice whether I continue to gaze upon and approach Jesus, my Heavenly Father and Holy Spirit with awe and wonder so that I am teachable and positioned to receive that which is beyond my imagination (Ephesians 3:20) to:

• set me free from being imprisoned by past pain
• empower me in each present moment
• prepare me for what the future holds

Please don’t hear that I am saying there is no place for intellect, knowledge, understanding.  There absolutely is.   They wouldn’t exist if God had not created them.

Rather what I am saying is God’s intellect, knowledge and understanding is “just a tad” bit more than ours.   The gateway for connection with that incredible reservoir is the awe, wonder and faith of a child.   Expressed so beautifully in this song.

Wonder – Amanda Cook