Hope is such a beautiful word. Probably one of my favorite words. Hope can provide peace, comfort, and love if you place your hope in the right place. When you place your hope in things other than God, your hope will be lost.
There have been many times when I have placed my hope in things of this world. People around me, a job opportunity, the promise of friends and family; but the truth is that all of these things are of this world. Everything in this world will let you down or disappoint you at some point; it’s just the nature of this world. But God, will never let you down. His promises never fail.
I heard a fact about whales this week that just blew my little Alabama girl mind. Did you know that most whales die by drowning? Whales are actually mammals, not fish, so they don’t have gills to help them breathe in the water. They have to come up to the surface every little bit in order to breathe. The one thing they need the most to survive in their world doesn’t exist there; they have to reach upwards to keep living. They have to place their hope in the air above the water, above their world, in order to live.
As Christians, we are not meant to be of this world. We live in a world where we truly don’t belong. We must place our hope in Christ and continue to reach up to him in order to live, in order to breathe. Christ is our air. Isaiah 43:1-2 beautifully describes the kind of hope we can have in the Lord. “But now, this is what the Lord says—He who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”
This deep dive into I Corinthians 13 has forced me to take a long look at how I love myself and where I have placed my hope. I have come to realize that even though I felt that I hoped in the Lord, in reality, I placed my hope in things of this world. You cannot truly love yourself if your hope lies in things that are worldly. When your hope is firmly planted in the Lord, things around you can be crumbling, but you know that the Lord will see you through to the end. God’s love will never fail you. Having full hope in Him, is having true love.
This week’s recipe is wonderful warm weather side dish for any meal. When you are invited to those end of summer pool parties, bring this and everyone will be asking for the recipe. I promise you will love it and everyone else will too! As always, feel free to switch out ingredients that your family loves. The wonderful thing about cooking is that you can always make it your own.
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
April 19, 2024
