My Hope…

These words may be familiar to you. Especially if you grew up in a more traditional church. They were written by a hymn writer (Edward Mote) in the 19th century, and they’ve been song in churches worldwide, nearly ever since. I find that they fill my mind frequently when I am conftoned with challenging circumstances, which, in this life are both normal, and always temporary. 

Those two things are super important to remember and meditate upon. Trying times and challenging circumstances are normal, and always temporary. Even when they seem to go on for a prolonged period. 

As we find in the Psalms, that’s a good point for a SELAH (a short pause, to breath and think). 

We live in a world that is broken. I can’t reiterate that enough. We are reminded of the brokenness of this world a lot right now. And sometimes the brokenness of a broken world can be somewhat overwhelming. Our souls can be troubled. Has your’s been troubled recently? If so, it’s normal. And ultimately it is temporary. 

Mote’s hymn goes on to say …

 

I want to encourage you to take a moment to pause and breath, today (SELAH) … and to maybe mediate on Mote’s hymn. You can download the full lyrics, here. 

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, wrote, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). He also wrote…
 

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

– 2 Cor. 4:17-18

I’ve shared these passages many times in the past, and quite a bit more recently. But they truly are worth thinking on.