CWW Week 17 - Day 4 - Hope

Scripture.

Psalm 39:7

“And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.”

Devotional.

Does God have a plan for each and every one of us?

Yes He does.

We are a work in progress and we only see day by day, how God’s plan will be unfolded in-front of us. Our life to this point, the good, the bad and the ugly, has been a proving ground for us. We have been receiving our education. We have been fitted to wear the full armour of God and we have seen good and evil.

God has given us the gifts required to go forward. He has given us an innate understanding of right and wrong. He has given us discernment and the power of The Holy Spirit should we seek His intervention. He has given us His Word both in kept promises that we can rely upon, and in the Bible which is our instruction manual.

We have it all ready to go; so what’s holding us back?

As a pilot for more than half a century, I found myself on a constant learning curve. Every single day I learned something new about the aircraft I flew, the humanity I worked with, the environment I flew in and, most importantly myself.

My boundaries were defined over decades of experience.

I am thankful that I survived the early days as I tested all these boundaries. I came close to disaster on many occasions, especially when I was low level cattle mustering and crop dusting. Dodging trees and flying under powerlines gave me a perspective in my early years.

My personal limitations were the hardest to overcome. As a child as young as five, I dreamt that I would fly for an airline. However my life circumstances growing up took me towards another path. Growing up in a severely dysfunctional family, I stopped attending school at age thirteen and I had a juvenile criminal record by the time I was seventeen.

I know now that I had what it takes to achieve my career dream because I did it, but I certainly made it difficult for myself. It was perseverance that got me through.

I look back and see clearly that God had a plan for me and I now see that all my career served to do for me, was to fit me for what I am doing on this keyboard right now. It was never about aviation but salvation.

My point in all this is that even though God had equipped me, I had to wait on Him. As I waited I stretched the boundaries of my relationship with Him. Before knowing Him at all I denied and mocked Him.

Then as I realised His undeniable existence and power in my life, I stretched the boundaries even further. Filled with a new sense of purpose, I charged ahead of my spiritual supply line and cut myself off. 

A famous battle in WW2 took place in Europe when allied forces dropped thousands of men into occupied territory to capture bridges and secure transport infrastructure. Well planned and poorly executed, Operation Market Garden was a deadly failure. The title of the movie about this misadventure says it all. The allies went “A Bridge Too Far.” These hapless soldiers were stretched out too far from their supply lines and were cut off and slaughtered.

The same can happen to us if we race ahead of God and His plan. We need to know when to wait and when to move forward but we must do both in faith. We must trust God’s judgement. We must remain forever close to Him in order to hear His still sweet small voice. God can be as subtle as a butterfly and as subtle as a wrecking ball. We need always to expect the unexpected with God. Patience is a virtue but inaction out of fear and lack of faith is not.

I remember what it was like learning to swim. I was never more than arms length from the edge and stayed in my comfort zone despite the urge to break out. Then swim by swim I learned to go a little further each time and then I was free. I had the same experience when I learned to fly when I was sent solo for the first time after only seven hours of instruction.

I felt free but still afraid in reverence to the elements I was subjected to both in the pool and in the sky. That healthy fear and reverence kept me alive. I must now apply the same reverence to God. Yes I am in fear of the power of the awesome God I am learning to love with all my heart, mind, soul and strength.

There are a thousand reasons why I should not be doing what I do now but eight billion reasons why I should. I am a broken man and unworthy of God’s amazing grace. But if not me then who? Perhaps it’s you?

In baptising three hundred people since I started this journey, I took a risk. I stretched the boundaries; but who’s boundaries? God’s or man’s?

When people were pleading with me to baptise them I had to give discernment to my choice to baptise or not to baptise. What if I am offending God by doing this? What if I am doing the wrong thing?

My decision was based on knowing that one day I will face Him, and I was terrified that He would ask me why I didn’t baptise people who desired a relationship with Him.

I would rather apologise for a risk that went wrong, than not take the chance to uphold someone in need. I had to examine my motives and methods. I sought the counsel of trusted friends and most of all I sought the guidance of the Holy Spirit and I took the plunge, literally.

There are times when we need the patience of the saints in serving God and there are other times when we must seize the day.

God will bless our actions if we step out in faith for the right reasons, and He will educate us if our motives and methods were self centred.

Either way if we stay close to Him always, we win, by either pleasing Him with our desire to serve Him and our fellow man, or by allowing ourselves another dose of life changing character development.

This only works in faith if we put all our hopes in Him.

Thats why this very short scripture says so much.

Psalm 39:7

“And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.”

Questions.

1. Do you ever feel unprepared for the task of life?
2. Do you ever kick yourself over lost opportunities?
3. If you love God and recognise the power of the Holy Spirit then what’s holding you back?

Prayer.

Dear Lord, Papa God.

Thank you for preparing me and believing in me despite my wicked ways. Please Papa, continue to examine my heart and know me and shine a light on my defects of character, that I may grow and be better prepared to do Your will in my life. I need you to guide me down the narrow pathway to eternal life and also equip me to share those directions with others as I grow in my faith. Thank you Papa for your reliable promises and your guiding still and sweet small voice. For this is my prayer in your precious name Lord. Amen.

Graham Hood.

Have a great day with Jesus.