19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Is it not amazing how fear and despondency can change to peace and joy in the blinking of an eye when circumstances turn favorable to our way of thinking? The phone call from someone that has been missing, the good lab report after a bad scare of a dreaded disease, the prodigal child returning at the doorstep seeking repentance, the wayward spouse wanting reunion – all of life is brimming with situations such as these. Indeed, the Proverb is True:
12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Prov 13:12 (NIV)
Yet Biblical hope is to be a clinging to what we know to be True. It is not mere wishful thinking or Pollyanna - pie in the sky - glib-like optimism; it is based on fact - the Truth of God’s Word. It is banking on the promises of the One who does not change like shifting shadows no matter what our circumstances. A firm belief in God’s Word and His faithfulness and unchanging abundant love for us will keep us consistently even - particularly amidst trying and difficult situations. This is not to say life will be easy street or without harsh trials and tribulations. Yet as His child everything that happens to us has passed through His loving hands. He wants us to prove Him faithful during our fires. He desires for us to trust Him with our lives even though as in Habakkuk’s time “the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines”. It is a choice to trust Him. He often keeps testing us in this – seeking to get our attention - until we at long last prove Him True – His ways are always aligned with our best interest even if we cannot readily perceive it – we can rest assured one day all will be clear. We must remember – all is grace.
Biblical hope is a certain expectation in what has been promised. God is good and loving all the time – not simply when the sun is shining – whether we perceive this in our human limitations or not. God remains consistently and lovingly focused on His children’s holiness and conformity to the image of His Son. He made us - He knows this is the ultimate way of life for us – He is well aware that we are the losers when we choose not to walk in His way – kicking and screaming against His best for our lives. That is the promise of Romans 8:28-29:
28 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. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:28-29 (NIV)
“Could you ask for a better promise? It is better that all things should work for my good than all things should be as I would wish to have them. All things might work for my pleasure and yet might all work my ruin. If all things do not always please me, they will always benefit me. This is the best promise of this life.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Not to come down too hard on our Lord’s guys - the disciples did not appear to have passed the hope test. Jesus had told them exactly what would take place yet they seemed to have remained clueless, distraught and full of anxiety – holed up in a locked room for fear of the Jews. Surely this is why our Lord enters their presence with the sweet word of “Peace”. The Word itself meaning “peace, tranquility, repose, calm, harmony, prosperity; it denotes a state of untroubled, undisturbed well-being.” Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible – New Testament Lexical Aids. It is a peace that is unearthly in its nature. Earlier in John Jesus stated to His disciples:
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27 (NIV)
Jesus consistently instilled hope to His followers promising provision, fulfillment, security, His achieving power and companionship even through the direst trials that ultimately prove our faith true. Anyone can have faith when the sun is shining yet that is not reality either for the believer or the unbeliever. Indeed, Jesus warned us this world will be full of trouble and trials but the believer is offered sweet peace through them. Jesus has overcome the world:
33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV)
Because of our union with Him, we too can be more than conquerors through Him who loves us. It is His desire for His followers to remain in a state of calm that rises from a heart that is too deeply rooted and planted in God to be much affected by the ups and downs of this life. Paul tells us in Romans:
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39 (NIV)
3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6-7 (NIV)
Hang on to these promises of peace – the wind will not always blow. There is a sure certainty that Heaven’s least is greater than earth’s best. God is always faithful to His Word – He know no fear and as He is a “with us” God, He expects His children to be fearless as well.
“Many people owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties.” Charles H. Spurgeon