Lisa notes

Hold Hope for One at a Time

By LisaNotes February 14, 2019 Guest posts, Hope, Practicing Hope 6 Comments

Large scope issues like immigration reform often overwhelm us. We don’t know the answers, and don’t feel we could make a difference even if we did.

But when we can’t hold hope for all, can we at least hold hope for one?

Brian finally made it to the U.S. a few months ago. After years of applications, interviews, and waiting, he arrived in Alabama from Vietnam to care for his aging mother here.

But his English skills need improving. As one of the English as a Second Language volunteers, I’ve been assigned to help him improve.

It’s been an interesting journey. For both of us.

Read the rest here:

“The Theology of One – When You Can’t Help All, Help One“

* * *

I’m writing today at Do Not Depart for our #PracticalTheology series. What we think about God directly affects how we hope for and serve others.

Will you join me there for the rest of the story?

This is Day 14 of my #Write28Days series on #PracticingHope.

Even Death Is About Hope

By LisaNotes February 13, 2019 Book reviews, Hope, Practicing Hope 6 Comments

“No one gets out of life alive. There’s no such thing as a survival story.“
– Matthew McCullough

Maybe that sounds gloomy to you. Even though we know death is inevitable for each of us, it’s not a subject we bring up often. Talking about death can be considered morbid and taboo.

Because we live longer than ever before, we can dismiss death from our thoughts more than at any time in the past. As little as 300 years ago, the average life expectancy was the late thirties. The average life expectancy now? Nearly 80 year olds.

But death is no less inevitable than ever before. It’s simply a timing issue.

“Every one of us lives with a death sentence we cannot escape. We’re still waiting our turn.“

For the wise, facing death now means greater life now.

Matthew McCullough says that the best way to enjoy your life is to get honest about your death. He’s the author of the new book, Remember Death: The Surprising Path to Living Hope. And while it is a book about death, he frames it more about Jesus and his promises.

And therefore, even death becomes about hope.

Not just hope for life after death, although that is definitely huge. But hope about death also belongs in the present as well.

McCullough says that overcoming our detachment from death helps us enjoy a deeper attachment to Jesus. Understanding the gospel in light of death let’s us know that even though no one is too important not to die, we all are important enough for Christ to die for us.

“We are important because we are loved, not loved because we’re important.”

So we are to enjoy the life that God gives us now, as well as look forward to the life we’ll have after we die.

“Jesus’s death and resurrection have purchased freedom to enjoy what you have even when you know you’re going to lose it. Enjoy your vacation even though it’ll be over in a flash.”

The good things of life don’t have to be permanent to bring us joy.

“Of course these things won’t last. Yes, it will hurt when they’re gone. But they don’t have to last to be wonderful. They are delicious, God-given, God-glorifying appetizers for the hearty and satisfying meal that’s still to come.”

The problems we face in life aren’t permanent either. While they bring us pain and they matter, often the problems we focus on most aren’t our biggest problems. When we expect this world to offer us comfort and security, we wrongly see our suffering as abnormal. But McCullough writes that,

“Remembering death helps us stop trying to protect what we can’t protect. And remembering Christ helps us stop trying to protect what we don’t need to protect.”

Don’t waste your time protecting what can’t be protected.

We can place our hope not only in God’s goodness for us down the road, but also in God’s goodness for us now.

“Connecting with the certainty of death is a critical step toward connecting with the certainty of hope.”

* * *

My thanks to Crossway
for the review copy of this book

Hope, Not Just FROM Bad, but FOR Good

By LisaNotes February 12, 2019 Hope, Practicing Hope 10 Comments

“Salvation is never just salvation from. It is always also salvation for.”
– John Ortberg

Just as with salvation, so it is with hope.

Hope isn’t just a desire to escape something bad. It’s also something good to look forward to.

This excerpt from Ortberg’s Eternity Is Now in Session explains more on salvation:

“Soter (‘savior’) was a common term in the classical world. It was often used for a military figure or healer or king who bore the hopes of the people. Lots of people had that title. But not in the New Testament. It is used eight times of God and sixteen times of Jesus and of nobody else.

This is because, as much as we look for deliverance from our outward circumstances, the main task of salvation is an inside job. We must be saved from what’s going on inside. And so far as I know, no other candidate for soter ever said, ‘Abide in me.'”

Just as with salvation, hope is an inside job as well. When I grow hopeless, it may appear to be prompted by outward circumstances, but it is actually a lack of trust from the inside out. Hope requires allowing my inner self to abide in Christ.

As I am transformed on the inside, my outside reflects it onto whatever situations arise.

Hope Leads to Action

By LisaNotes February 11, 2019 Hope, Practicing Hope 13 Comments

Don’t confuse hope with optimism.

While they are similar, hope is not the same thing as optimism.

Optimism is a general attitude that positive things will happen in our lives, come what may. While hope can also include that attitude, hope is more specific. Hope is typically based on belief in abilities. And hope leads to actions based on that belief.

Consider this scenario:

A University of Kansas psychologist, C.R. Snyder, asked a group of college students:

“Although you set your goal of getting a B in a class, after your first exam, which accounts for 30% of your grade, you find you only scored a D. It is now one week later. What do you do?”

The students’ answers depended on their levels of hope.

Those who had high levels of hope said they would do more work to improve their final grade.
Students with moderate levels of hope also thought of things they could do, but they weren’t likely to do them.
But students with low levels of hope? They lacked imagination of any way to improve their grade. They surrendered to the D.

In real-life situations, Snyder found that levels of hope could more accurately predict freshman students’ first semester grades than their SAT scores.

Hope matters.

Hope determines our ability to persevere instead of giving up. Hope determines our next step.

The more hope we have, the more likely we’ll take action and succeed.

Researchers say that hope is a learned concept. Even if hope doesn’t come naturally, we can learn to hope. If we missed out on being raised in an atmosphere of hope, it’s never too late to pick it up.

For Christ-followers, our hope need not come from trusting our own abilities. Our hope is securely based on our belief in God’s abilities to deliver what he promises, which includes equipping us with what we need.

So to increase our hope, we grow our faith in God and in what he can and will do.

Then with increased hope, we’ll take increased actions.

To practice hope, look for God. See him in nature, in scripture, in people, in experiences. Watch for ways he is at work.

Then exercise hope by following him there.

The more you hope, the more you’ll move.

* * *

Are you optimistic by nature? Pessimistic? I tend to ride the middle. Do you see a difference between optimism and hope? Please share in the comments.

This is my month of Practicing Hope.