Maybe you’ve heard the story of the Jim twins. Jim Springer and Jim Lewis were twin sons of a fourteen-year-old Italian girl. She gave birth to them in a small town in Ohio and then disappeared. They were adopted into two separate loving families, but after 39 years of life had never seen one another. They knew they had a twin somewhere.
Jim Lewis had always been haunted by a desire to find his twin brother. One lived in Lima, Ohio and the other in Dayton. Through the activities of a probate court, they found one another.
Picture the scene in your mind. Lewis drove to Dayton to meet his brother for the first time in 39 years. When he found the house he was so nervous he drove around the block three times. Finally, he stopped, walked up to the house and knocked on the door. All their families were with them. When Jim Springer met his twin brother Jim Lewis for the first time they stood staring at one another, speechless. They said it was like looking in a mirror. They talked, looked, thought, and acted alike. It was almost spooky.
Both men’s first wife was named Linda. Both had divorced and remarried. Both men’s second wife named was Betty. Both had just finished building wood furniture because both had the same hobby of woodworking. Having never seen one another, they were so much alike.
Would it sustain your joy and preserve your faith to know that after the trials of this life when you see Jesus there will be a surprising resemblance to Him? Does it do something for your attitude and response to life to know that these trials can actually result in your being wiser, more peaceful, more full of joy, and cause those watching you to have an improved opinion of Jesus? It is living hope that produces joy and faith.