John Ortberg, in his book If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat, cites a medical study in which 122 men who had suffered their first heart attack were evaluated on their degree of hopefulness and pessimism: “Of the 25 most pessimistic men, 21 had died eight years later. Of the 25 most optimistic, only 6 had died! Loss of hope increased the odds of death more than 300 percent; it predicted death more accurately than any medical risk factor, including blood pressure, amount of damage to the heart, or cholesterol level.”
Then Ortberg adds his own humorous thought to the study: “Better to eat Twinkies in hope than to eat broccoli in despair.” (John Ortberg, If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat, Zondervan, 2001, p. 159; www.PreachingToday.com)
The question is, “Where do we find such life-giving hope?” Especially for those of us who have struggled in the last year, where do we find hope as we begin a new year today?
The question reminds me of an ad I once saw offering a cash reward for help with locating a lost dog with a description of the dog. It said: “He's got three legs; he's blind in the left eye and missing a right ear; his tail has been broken off; he was neutered accidentally by a fence – ouch! – he's almost deaf, and he answers to the name ‘Lucky.’” (Philip Griffin, A God Who Redeems, www.PreachingToday.com)
Poor dog. I think his luck has run out, and maybe you feel the same especially when we’re talking about hope. Where do the hopeless find hope?
Well, if you have your Bibles I invite you to turn with me to Genesis 48, Genesis 48, where an old man on his death bed found hope beyond the grave not only for himself but for his entire family.
Genesis 48:1-4 Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed. Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and will increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’ (NIV)
Jacob recalls the promises God had made to him at Luz (later called Bethel); and there he finds hope, so much so that he adopts Joseph’s two sons as his own.
Genesis 48:5 “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. (NIV)
Reuben and Simeon were Jacob’s first-born sons. They were the ones who by right and by custom should have received a double portion of Jacob’s estate, twice as much as any of their brothers. But now, Jacob adopts Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph’s sons, as his own first-born sons. They will replace Reuben and Simeon as first-born sons and receive their inheritance. This elevates Joseph’s position, as the 11th born son, to an even greater position than the 1st born son. That’s because he, through his first two children, now receives four portions of his father’s estate. Usually, the first-born son receives two portions of the estate and the rest of the children only one, but Joseph gets four portions! Jacob elevates Joseph through this adoption, then he continues…
Genesis 48:6-7 Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. As I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). –NIV
The elevation of Joseph to the status of 1st born, reminds Jacob of Joseph’s mother, Rachel. He still feels the pain of her loss even after all those years; but in the midst of the pain and in the midst of his own terminal condition, he looks to the future with confidence. He adopts two boys as his own and promises them a double portion of his estate even though he has nothing to give them at this time. Jacob is living in a strange land. In fact, he has no land of his own except a small burial plot hundreds of miles away.
Yet he speaks with all the confidence of a promising future for his family. Why? Because Jacob has found his hope in the promises of God, and that’s where we find our hope as well. It doesn’t matter if we have nothing. It doesn’t matter if we’re in pain. It doesn’t matter if the last year has been a struggle. If we rely on the promises of God, we can still…
LOOK AHEAD WITH CONFIDENCE.
We can look forward to the coming year with an absolute assurance that God will keep His Word. We can face the future with joy in anticipation of all that God has for us in the days ahead.
Bob Seiple, in Princeton Seminary Bulletin, talks about his father, who at the age of 75 planted a number of very small fruit trees. “What an optimist,” Bob had told him, somewhat mockingly.
Well, his dad passed away a few years ago, and now when Bob returns to the old homestead, he says, “I have an option. I can go to the grassy cemetery on top of the hill and brood over his grave, or I can eat the fruit of his trees and reflect on a man who knew a great deal about hope.” (Bob Seiple, Princeton Seminary Bulletin, Vol. xxvii, number 2, 2006, p. 119-120; www.PreachingToday.com)
Tell me, are you planting “fruit trees?” Or are you just complaining about your circumstances? I like the way John Maxwell once put it. He says, “When confronted with a difficult situation, a person with an outstanding attitude makes the best of it while he gets the worst of it. (John C. Maxwell, Attitude 101, Thomas Nelson, 2003; www.PreachingToday.com)
So how do we do that? Well, we do it like Jacob did. We rely on the promises of God.
Two young girls were talking and one of the girls said she had ten pennies. The other girl looked in her hand and saw only five. She told her, “You only have five pennies.”
“No,” said the first girl. “I have five and my father told me he would give me five tonight. So I have ten!” To her, her father’s promise was as good as done.
And that’s the way it is with our Heavenly Father’s promises. They’re as good as done. My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19) – It’s as good as done! God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5) – It’s as good as done! I can do everything through him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13) – It’s as good as done! And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28) – It’s as good as done!
Find your own promises in the Bible. There are hundreds of them in this Book, and they are ALL as good as done! So count on them, because in difficult times, when we rely on the promises of God, we can look ahead with confidence. But not only that, when we rely on the promises of God, we can also…
LOOK UP TO THE LORD WITH COMMITMENT.
We can remain strong in our determination to obey the Lord no matter what others think. We can choose to honor the Lord even if it is contrary to what people might expect of us. That’s what Jacob (or Israel) did.
Genesis 48:8-10 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?” “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father. Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.” Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them. (NIV)
Israel’s eyes are just like his father’s were when his father blessed him. Only that was accomplished in a context of deception and trickery. Israel had deceived his blind father into thinking he was the first-born and so received the blessing of the first-born. Here, there is no deception. Israel, though blind, knows exactly what he is doing and who he is blessing. His physical eyes may be dim, but the eyes of his faith are wide open.
Genesis 48:11-13 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.” Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. (NIV)
Joseph has positioned his sons so that the oldest is on Israel’s right and the youngest on Israel’s left. The right side is the prominent side, and Joseph wants his first-born son to have the prominence, but look at what Israel does.
Genesis 48:14-20 But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn. Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm —may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly upon the earth.” When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.” He blessed them that day and said, “In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ” So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. (NIV)
In spite of society’s expectations and in spite of his own son’s protests, Israel blesses the younger son over the older. He gives the younger boy the prominence and puts Ephraim before Manasseh.
This has been God’s pattern now for four generations in Genesis. God put Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over Reuben, and now Ephraim over Manasseh. All of them younger sons over the oldest. So Israel chooses to follow God’s pattern instead of human patterns. Through the eyes of faith, he chooses God’s way instead of man’s way and blesses the younger over the older.
It’s because he believed in the promises of God. God had promised him a rich inheritance, so it didn’t matter what people said. It only mattered what God had said, and that gave him all the security he needed to go against the opinions of others, even that of his own son, Joseph.
You see, when we rely on the promises of God, we can do the same thing. We can do what God wants us to do no matter what anybody else says.
Matt Woodley, from Chicago, talks about watching his 18-year-old son participate in a real X-ball paintball tournament. Those paintball guns shoot 13 paintballs per second, making the matches quick and exciting. They're also chaotic. The X-ball concept depends on five players from each team shooting at their opponents and working their way up a large outdoor field. The goal is to hit the other team’s players with a paintball, which forces them to play dead, so you can capture their flag.
It's not easy to do. In the midst of thousands of flying paintballs, it's tough to spot your opponents. The players can crouch and dive behind bunkers and barriers; and to make matters even worse, as your team's coach shouts the right information about your opponents' locations, the other team's fans start yelling false information.
Woodley says, “When I heard the other fans intentionally confusing my son's teammates, I was shocked. It sounded like cheating to me – or at least incivility.” But after the match his son calmly informed him, “O, yeah, that's called ‘counter-coaching.’ They're trying to distract our players with false information. It's part of the game, Dad. We have to deal with it all the time. It just means that we have to focus on our coach and block out all the other distractions.” (Matt Woodley, Chicago, Illinois; www.PreachingToday.com)
That sounds like living the Christian life. We have to focus on our coach, Jesus Christ, and block out all the other distractions, all the other “counter-coaching” that comes from our culture and sometimes even from those in our own families.
God has spoken very clearly in His Word. All we have to do is trust what He has said and put it into practice even when the crowd tells us to do something else. You see, when we rely on the promises of God, we can look ahead to the future with confidence; we can look up to the Lord with commitment. And finally, when we depend on God’s Word, we can…
LOOK AROUND WITH COMPASSION.
We can encourage those we love despite our own condition. We can inspire others even when our health is failing. That’s what Israel did. He encouraged his son on his deathbed.
Genesis 48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers. (NIV)
Just as he promised
Genesis 48:22 And to you, as one who is over your brothers, I give the ridge of land I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.” (NIV)
Now, there is no record that Israel ever took anything from the Amorites with his sword and bow. Rather, Israel is looking ahead to the time when he, through his descendants, will take land from the Amorites just as God promised. And when that happens, Israel says, Joseph’s tribes will get a double portion of it all. On his deathbed, Israel is giving Joseph a vision of a victorious future for their descendants. It’s a vision born out of Israel’s confidence in God’s promises.
Israel encourages his son even on his own deathbed, and that’s what we can do when we have the same confidence in God’s promises as Israel did. We can be an encouragement to others even when we ourselves are going through difficult times.
2 Corinthians 1 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
When we depend on the Lord, He comforts us in our times of trouble so we can comfort others in their times of trouble.
When 13-year-old Lauren Blakemore was newly diagnosed with cancer, she heard a sermon at her home church in Louisville, Kentucky, and she knew God wanted her to do mission work with cancer kids. She said, “I can give them hope by telling my story.”
Lauren's cancer, a primitive neuroectodermal tumor, was rare and aggressive. There are only about 450 cases diagnosed a year, and the tumors invade bones and often lead to amputation. After 14 rounds of chemotherapy and 25 radiation treatments, Lauren's recovery was considered a miracle.
Throughout her battle, Lauren found comfort from a gift she had received before she was born – a blanket. A neighbor named Mildred made a bright, multi-colored quilt as a baby gift for Lauren. This “Miss Mildred” blanket was always Lauren's favorite. She snuggled in it through childhood and then through the nausea, fatigue, and sleepless nights that came with battling cancer.
After Lauren's dad visited a children's cancer ward in India, he returned home to tell her about the kids. Immediately, Lauren began to raise money by speaking at Rotary Club meetings and schools. She wanted every child to have a “Miss Mildred” blanket because “chemotherapy makes you cold all the time.”
Now, thanks to women in Bosnia working at Peace Crafts, a cottage industry started by Southeast missionaries, through Lauren’s efforts, each child's bed in the cancer ward is now warmed by a “Miss Mildred” blanket.
Lauren said, “When I was first diagnosed with cancer, I knew God had a plan for my life. This is part of that plan.” (Ruth Schenk, “Lauren's Mission,” The Southeast Outlook, 11-24-05; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s the nature of true faith. When we depend on the Lord, He uses us even in our pain to help others in their pain.
Amy Carmichael (1867–1951), a missionary to India, was no stranger to pain and suffering. She once asked the question, “What if every stroke of pain, or hour of weariness or loneliness, or any other trial of flesh or spirit, could carry us a pulse beat nearer some other life, some life for which the ministry of prayer is needed. Would it not be worthwhile to suffer? Ten thousand times yes. And surely it must be so, for the further we are drawn into the fellowship of Calvary with our dear Lord, the [more tender] we are toward others. God never wastes His children's pain.” (Michael Bauman, Lawrence Kimbrough, Martin I. Klauber, and Keith P. Wells, 90 Days with the Christian Classics, B&H Publishing, 1999; www.PreachingToday.com)
My friends, as you rely on the Lord, you will find the same thing: God NEVER wastes his children’s pain. He can and he will use you even in your pain to be a blessing to others.
When we rely on the promises of God, we can look ahead with confidence; we can look up with commitment; and we can look around with compassion.
I like the way Joni Erickson Tada once put it. She said, “You don't have to be alone in your hurt! Comfort is yours. Joy is an option. And it's all been made possible by your Savior. He went without comfort so you might have it. He postponed joy so you might share in it. He willingly chose isolation so you might never be alone in your hurt and sorrow. (Joni Eareckson Tada, Christian Reader, Vol. 32, no. 2; www.PreachingToday.com)
So look to Jesus today. Trust Him with your life and find the joy and comfort only He can bring as we go into this New Year together.
