Amy Boucher Pye

Tag: hope

  • Weekly Devotional: Fruit that lasts (7 in Hope and Trust in God series)

    Photo: sabin paul croce, flickr

    But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. Jeremiah 17:5–8

    We see a theme developing in the prophets, as they exhort the people of Israel and Judah to trust in the Lord and not in humans. We are so easily tempted to trust in that which we see or feel or touch; we find it harder to trust in what is unseen but real.

    But when we do, when we put our hope and trust in God, we become like a tree planted by a stream of water. Our roots go down far into the earth of God’s word. As we feed on his light and life, we can’t help but to grow. Branches and leaves and flowers burst forth from us, and we are amazed that we’re even able to provide shade and a place for birds and animals to make their home.

    You might be thinking, okay, that’s lovely imagery, but what does that mean for me? I’m home with my kids and they’re driving me crazy. I’m older and I’m looking for a job but I suspect my age is hindering me. I’m at uni and wondering what to do with my life. What comes to my mind in these disparate life situations is abiding in Jesus, as he says in John 15. He is the vine and we are the branches. As we rest/remain/live in him, his Spirit will move in and through us. He will give us the strength to love our children and provide a soothing word to their tantrums. He will give us the hope and perseverance to keep trying for just the right job. He will show us how to depend on him for the next steps in our life. Especially as we come together in prayer, we see that he leads, guides, encourages and affirms us.

    Prayer: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you provide us with the living water that brings life and fruitfulness. Flow through us this day.

  • Weekly Devotional: Perfect peace (6 in Hope and Trust in God series)

    Photo: Gordon Wrigley, flickr

    You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. Isaiah 26:1–9

    Each January I ask the Lord to reveal a special word and/or verse of Scripture for the upcoming year. In my twenties, when I was entering a new season of intimacy with God, he sparked the above verse from Isaiah. I felt like shouting it from the rooftops, for the words of the prophet from thousands of years before spoke electrically into my life.

    I had been learning to hear God’s voice, but as I mentioned previously, I got into trouble when I misheard the Lord. That made for a roller-coaster of emotions, with my feelings up sky-high one day and dashed the next. I saw that Isaiah’s words would provide the balance that my emotions so desperately needed. As I trusted in the Lord, keeping my mind steadfast and centered on him, he would keep me in perfect peace. I would no longer be hit by any passing wave of emotion, but would be anchored in God’s word. To change the metaphor, he would be my rock forever.

    It turns out that having this steadfast mind means having a capacity for imagining in the Hebrew, according to John N. Oswalt in the NIV Application Commentary: Isaiah (p. 304). As we fill our imaginations with God and his word, our lives are changed. We might decide not to expose our minds to certain books or movies so to keep our hearts fixed on God. For example, I concluded I couldn’t watch any more of a television show about a medical coroner. Please know that I’m not making a blanket statement here, but I realized that the dead bodies were filling my imagination and I needed to stop. The line of what is acceptable for you may be different; God directs as we stop and ask.

    How’s your level of peace today?

    Prayer: Lord, you are our rock and we trust in you. Fill our minds, hearts and imaginations with your sweet images of your true riches.

  • Weekly Devotional: Longing fulfilled (4 in Hope and Trust in God series)

    Photo: ‘Tree of Awe’ by Trevor Cameron, flickr

    Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

    A friend prayed this proverb for me when major life plans were dashed. I had thought the Lord was guiding me to move to another city to work with a Christian organization there. Conveniently, in that city lived a man whom I was sure the Lord had told me I would marry. But in the space of a week, I knew that neither would happen – neither would I work there nor marry that wonderful man.

    My friend realized that I had seriously misheard the Lord, but she didn’t pass judgment on me. Rather she ministered to me through this proverb, for she saw that what my heart hoped for – marriage and being involved in an organization I loved – was now not coming true. And if I let my deferred hope fester within, my heart could become sick with sadness and disappointment.

    She prayed with me, and helped me to release some of the pain and disbelief to God. I started to understand that I needed to mature in my listening; to test what I was hearing not only against the Bible but with trusted prayer partners.

    It’s interesting that Solomon in this proverb simply observes the effects of hope deferred and longing fulfilled. He’s not pointing fingers at causes or behaviors that may have brought about the hope deferred. Sometimes merely stating the situation can bring healing and clarity – as with my friend who saw what was happening in my heart but didn’t tear me down for the mess I’d made.

    Through my painful experience, I learned to give the Lord my dreams and plans. I became more rooted in his word and more mature in discerning his voice. And eventually my longings fulfilled became a tree of life.

    Prayer: Root us in your word, Lord, that we might drink of your nourishment and feed on your good food.

  • Weekly Devotional: On the path with Jesus (3 in Hope and Trust in God series)

    Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5–6)

    We might be tempted to think that this famous proverb is a prophecy. That is, if we put our trust in God, he will make everything work out – according to what we think is best. But the obvious fallacy there is that God is God and we are not. In contrast, when we trust fully in God, we bow to him with our plans, our hopes, our dreams, our futures. We seek his wisdom rather than our own.

    And yet, amazingly, the Lord invites us to collaborate with him. He’s ahead of us, making our paths straight, but he’s also alongside us, as we join our hand in his. Throughout the day we can be engaged in a conversation with him, seeking his will and wisdom. When we are tempted to fly off the handle at our colleague, our child, or our neighbor, we can heed that quiet voice inside us as the Holy Spirit urges us to respond to their harsh words with kindness. Or we can enjoy the spark of inspiration as we create a tasty new dish, an insightful poem, or when we realize we know just what to say to a hurting friend.

    And as we trust in God, he’s also behind us, as in Isaiah 30:21: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.’” The Lord wants to guide us, but he also wants us to use the initiative and creativity that he’s given to us. And so when we turn to the left or the right, we’ll hear his affirming voice saying that we’re walking his way.

    How can you submit to and trust in the Lord today?

    Prayer: Lord God, we might know that proverb word for word in our heads. Please make it come alive to us today in our every thought, word and deed.

     

  • Weekly Devotional: Steadfast hearts (2 in Hope and Trust in God series)

    Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. (Psalm 112:6–7)

    You may not be surprised to learn that I read a lot of books. I’m drawn especially to those real-life testimonies of triumph over tragedy, where the author overcomes – with God – heartache, sickness, pain, and death of a loved one. With tears streaming down my face, I read of their challenges and am heartened by their courage and trust in God.

    But it’s easier to read another’s story in a book than to live an unwelcomed “new normal.” The heart-stopping moment when the phone rings and you sense that the voice on the other line has bad news can be paralyzing and fear-inducing. When I was nineteen, one of my closest friends was killed in a car accident. Grief overtook me, and I questioned how the Lord could have allowed a young woman with such promise to die. It was the first time I had to face an altered reality, where something that wasn’t supposed to happen did.

    I couldn’t echo the psalmist that I had no fear of bad news. In fact, just six months later another friend (although not as close to me) died of a brain aneurysm, and seven months later my beloved grandfather died. My faith was shaken, but all the rocking landed me in the everlasting arms of God. Through the months and years after, I explored the big questions of why God allows such suffering and pain. Seeking the answers helped me to develop a steadfast heart, as the psalmist says, of one who trusts the Lord. I began to see the crucial difference between God allowing something to happen and the Lord causing it. Of course I won’t fully understand the reasons why this side of heaven, but I began to know from deep within that the One whom I trusted was indeed trustworthy.

    Prayer: Lord Jesus, sometimes our hearts are here and there and certainly not fixed on you. Help us in the bad and the good times to trust in your goodness.

  • Devotional of the week: An eternal perspective

    For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come (2 Corinthians 5:1-5)

    A taste of heaven, from the altar at St. Peter's Basilica.
    A taste of heaven, from the altar at St. Peter’s Basilica.

    A couple of years ago, I ended our Christmas missive with a reflection on the fragility of life, for one close to us was killed in a car accident. I didn’t know that as I composed the letter, a beloved older friend was near death, having suffered a stroke. We often live in a state of denial, but for everyone, one day our earthly tent will be destroyed.

    Yet Paul here speaks to the Corinthians about longing for his heavenly dwelling, which God the Builder and Architect has created and which moths and rust will not destroy. It’s another variation of the already-not yet which we spoke of in previous weeks. We mentioned how we have been redeemed but are not yet completely sanctified; here we note that we groan on earth as we anticipate the wonders of heaven. Namely our rich communion with God.

    I love how Paul reverses the wisdom of the world with his phrase, “swallowed up by life” (in contrast to death being the great swallower). All the remnants of our old self – the mortal – will be swallowed up by the true and everlasting light and life in our heavenly dwelling. We will no longer be naked and ashamed, but clothed in a better outfit than we ever could have dreamed of.

     

    Prayer: Lord God, help me to live with an eternal perspective today, remembering that people and your word will be all that remains eternally. Plant in me the hope of heaven, which you promise will not disappoint.