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We are still in the idol constructing business and that has never been clearer than in the world of pornography and sexual fantasy. God wired into all humans a worship drive of which was intended to be placed upon and occupied by Him and Him alone. Sexual idols are constructed in the compartmentalized and disconnected regions of our brain and reinforced through the lies by which we protect it.
We all have a race to run. For some, the race is long and difficult. For others, it is shortened to just a few years. Paul did not finish nor run his race through his own strength. He ran his race through faith and the hope of the prize before him. Let us all follow his example. Cast off the snares and weights of sin, train your spiritual body to submit to the Father’s will, find fellow runners to support one another and find strength in His Word.
Disappointment
During my high school years, I was a huge David Bowie fan. I knew all the words to his songs and I even had a David Bowie haircut. You know the one with short spiked hair on top and long in the back. (Business in the front and party in the back) Please don’t ask for pictures because they have all been destroyed. Hey, it was the 70’s, we all had strange haircuts and weird clothes but we were cool. One day the news broke, Bowie would be coming to our city to perform. This was before the Internet and so I waited in line for hours to obtain my tickets to see my favorite rock star. The tickets were very expensive but it didn’t matter because I was going to be in the same building and breath the same air as David Bowie. The day finally came and I don’t think I slept a wink the night before due to the anticipation and excitement. I got there early and waited. The time came for the concert to begin and nothing happened. There was no warm up group and no announcements. An hour passed and finally, Bowie arrived on the stage. He sang maybe 3 songs and took a break. 30 minutes later he returned and sang 3 more songs and left. There was no encore. There was no announcement “David Bowie has left the building.” To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I didn’t, however, go home and throw away all my Bowie records. I didn’t change my hairstyle. I continued to be a devoted fan.
I look back at how quickly I forgot about the disappointment I experienced with a human I didn’t even know and how hard it is for me to get past my perceived disappointments with God whom I do know. I hung unto my disappointment list for God through my adolescent years and kept God on trial and at a distance. This list consisted of trials I had experienced and believed God could have intervened and saved me from my pain and hardships. God eventually revealed to me the truth found in Romans chapter 5.
Romans 5:3-5 (NKJV) 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
As long as I held onto my resentments toward God, I could not experience the growth described in the verses above. We may never know why God permits certain trials and hardships to occur in our lives but we can know and experience His love that is poured into our hearts. At this very moment you may be in a place of disappointment with God. I encourage you to trust His words and the process that is described in Romans 5:3-5. I encourage you to trust your pain to the One who understands it and bore it for you. He is the author of hope and His hope will never disappoint us. For He is the Perfect Hope.
Perfect Hope
When God went about creating man, he placed into his heart a message of hope. This core message of hope has kept many people alive is desperate environments and situations. Moses’ hope kept him going through 40 years of tending sheep. David’s hope kept him alive as he ran and hid from his angry king. Even though David had not witnessed God’s redemptive work through Christ, his hope in what was yet to come would not allow his bones to waste away in the ground. Peter and Judas both abandoned Christ, one through denial and the other by betrayal. Peter’s hope, however, rested upon the Lord’s love and redemption while Judas hope in himself led to his death.
We can live without many things and survive. We can even survive without the basics of food, water and shelter for an extended period but we cannot live without hope. Satan is aptly described as someone who steal, kills and destroys. One of his primary targets is to destroy and kill our hope. He doesn’t do this with blatant, loud and obvious techniques. He does this through subtle encouragements for us to misdirect our hope. The prime example is to place hope in yourself and your own abilities. The world we live in admires and esteems individuals who are independent and self-reliant. At some point, however, your abilities will decline and fail you. The 70’s were filled with emotionally dependent depressing songs. One such song was “I can’t live if living is without you.” When we place our entire being or hope in someone else, no matter how great they are, eventually this too will disappoint us. When our hope is disappointed through placing faith in yourself and others then Satan is there to tempt you with the fantasy world. In the delusional fantasy world I can create a world where all my needs are met and no disappointment occurs.
People have asked me how I came up with the name Perfect Hope for the ministry. (Actually, a friend of mine came up with it.) You see every venue and person of this world will eventually disappoint us but there is one source of hope that never disappoints and His name is Jesus. When you place your hope in yourself, others and worldly pleasures most often you are left with burdens of guilt and shame. Jesus came and bore the cost and burden of this guilt and shame so you could experience His love and freedom. If you are ready for real hope that will not disappoint then His arms are open and His Grace is sufficient. There is perfect hope and His name is Jesus.
Jonathan Jones, President of Perfect Hope Ministries