Are you prepared? I am. For good things? That is easy correct. Not so fast there I am not sure that I am always prepared for good things. For bad things? That is not as easy, is it? Do you know how to be prepared? What steps do you need to take? Is it something you do on your own? Let me share with you what I learned about how preparedness brings hope.
I guess you are wondering what I believe it means to be prepared. Let me tell you the Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 3:15, “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (ESV) I see Peter telling me that I need to be able to tell people about the best thing that ever happened to me in my life. The time when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. So that good thing is easy to be able to be prepared to do. All I needed to do was write a story about how it happened. I think when and where is also important. I know that being prepared will also bring others hope because you will be lead them to the source of true and everlasting hope.
But what about other good things that have happened to me. I need to be able to tie the good job I got to my hope. I need to be able to make the bridge to the fact that I have a good job as being a blessing from God. What about a great wife. I need to see her as a blessing from God. All of those good things that happen to me are blessings from God and therefore there is hope for more good blessings.
But am I prepared to see the good in what the world and even part of me is not good. For example, when my wife committed suicide was I able to see good and hope. The answer to that is yes and no. I saw good in that Laura no longer suffered because she was with Jesus in heaven. I saw some good, selfish good, in the fact that I no longer had to be the caregiver. Neither of those two examples however gave me hope. They gave me relief from a burden. It took me seven- and one-half years to realize that there was real hope in the death of my wife. I could see hope because I could see God using it to make me more perfect, complete and lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4, tells me, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (ESV) To me this is real hope. I know that in this world I will never be fully complete, perfect nor lacking in nothing. I know however that some day I will.
I also see hope in one other way of preparation. That is preparing for the battle against Satan. 1Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (ESV) I need to be prepared because Satan wants to destroy me. Paul tells me how to be prepared in Ephesians 6 10-20 which tells me to put on the full armor of God in order to prepare for the battle against Satan. A battle that I am on the winning side. That is my hope I am going to win. Are you prepared to win with me?
I pray you that you will join me in being prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in you. Knowing that God has prepared you for such a time as this because He loves us. The first step of preparation is for you to seek Jesus for He is the only opportunity there is to have eternal life and with that comes the hope we find in preparation. This is to me the greatest source of hope. In doing so, I believe we will have hope and joy in our everyday lives. Understanding how Jesus Christ grants us access to eternal life, allows us to live in hope. “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3 (ESV) At the same time understanding you will live eternally knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ will also bring you the greatest hope. Because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, all of our sins were satisfied and the penalty for them was paid. His payment satisfies all my sins from the past, the present and in the future. My penalty and yours was satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because holiness shows us, we need to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in helping others to choose Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here. You can watch a book trailer about my book. You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here. eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press or Christianbook.com at Amazon or Google.
I mentioned that I was going through a difficult time right now. If you are interested in what I am going through, you can read about it here.
