The Birth of Hope (From "Masterpiece in the Making: Life Lessons for Spiritual Growth”)
"And hope does not put us to shame." (Romans 5:5)
My wife is not in the habit of keeping things from me, but several years ago, when she learned my mother was admitted to the hospital, she put on her best poker face and acted as if nothing had happened. There was a reason for her deception: I had just been admitted to the hospital myself - excessive stress produced in me what appeared to be a heart attack. While undergoing a preliminary exam in the emergency room, I was given a nitroglycerin tablet, which triggered a complete cardiac arrest. The emergency room doctor decided that anyone who flat lined probably needed to be admitted to the hospital for more tests, so they checked me into a room.
Meanwhile, my mother was admitted to the intensive care unit of her local hospital. She wasn’t expected to live long. My wife was able to schedule me for a stress test early the next morning. I passed the test, was released from the hospital, and hopped into a waiting car to go see my mother.
Compared to what lay ahead, the stress test I passed that morning was a cinch. I cannot count the number of sleepless nights, fits of anger and tears, despondent days, and times when I wondered if I could go on. I struggled with doubts. I questioned many of my beliefs about God and His ways. For three years, I endured, barely.
These were, so far, the most difficult days of my life. My faith was tested in ways I had never experienced. I didn’t recognize it at the time, and it certainly didn’t feel like it, but through these trying years, God was working deep inside me, building integrity and character. The result was the birth of a living hope, such as I had never before experienced. In this chapter, I want to share with you about God’s living hope and how you can experience that same hope in your life.
Hope is one of the three signs of godly character which I believe are desperately needed in our lives and churches today. This character is forged in the fires through which we often must pass on our journey of faith. In the next several posts, I’ll be sharing this story from “Masterpiece in the Making: Life Lessons for Spiritual Growth” in the hope that someone struggling might be encouraged.
In Christ,
Dan