Series: Saints
Message: Suffering
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Reflection: Mark Witas
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Zan Long
Live Purpose: Jason Calvert
Editor: Becky De Oliveira

Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.

Read: Romans 8:18-30 in the English Standard Version (ESV). Note 1–3 insights or questions. 

Reflect: Paul writes, “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:24–25).

One of our former U.S. presidents wrote this:

Hope is not blind optimism. It’s not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It’s not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it. Hope is the belief that destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by the men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be. (Barack Obama, “Remarks Following the Iowa Caucuses,” January 3, 2008)

The most essential part of hope is how it drives the one hoping to act as though what they are hoping for is actually going to come about. One doesn’t seriously hope for a comfortable retirement without putting money away each month. One doesn’t hope for a loving spouse without making some efforts at self-improvement. One doesn’t seriously hope to run their first marathon without training for it.

Hoping is not wishing. It’s not throwing a few coins into a fountain at the mall, closing one’s eyes, and wishing for a pony. Serious hope dictates action and behavior. Real hope prepares us for what will inevitably come our way.

When a Christian banks on heaven, they prepare for it. They prepare for it by doing their best to do Jesus’ prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” They try hard to bring as much heaven to earth as they can. They also prepare to be the kind of people who would enjoy heaven and everything they believe that it is and will be.

When I was preparing for ministry at the seminary, I did Bible studies with a high school student. He was fascinated with the prospect of the afterlife, specifically heaven. As he started to comprehend the reality of that hope, his life changed.

Once, when he was near his school, he was approached by a homeless man with a sad story about needing to catch a bus to see his mother before she died. This young man went and withdrew $20 from the ATM and gave it to the homeless man.

I chastised my young friend, telling him that the homeless man had lied and taken advantage of him. His response to me was, “Maybe he was lying. Maybe he wasn’t. But for sure, I had an opportunity to live out my hope for a better world, and I acted on it. I don’t feel bad about that.”

Recalibrate:  How has hope brought you through tough times in the past? How did you act on that hope?

Respond: Pray for God to implant and sustain hope for Jesus’ coming Kingdom.

Research: Check out this article on faith and hope.

Remember: “Consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18, NIV).

Mark Witas is the lead pastor at Pacific Union College Church in Angwin, CA. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Mark has served as a youth pastor, Bible teacher, college and academy chaplain, and lead pastor in the United States and Canada for the last 33 years. He has also authored four books: Born Chosen, Live Out Loud, Portals, and Just Jesus.

Place a variety of textured objects on the floor for your child to experience. A woolly sweater, a new scratchy pot scrubber, a wooden spoon, some Play-Doh, and a clean paint brush. Encourage your little one to experience each texture. While they may put one object down quickly, they may love to hold onto another one for a long time. No matter what they choose to play with and no matter how long they play with it, your love for them stays the same. They are a part of you. In Jesus’ name, we are a part of God's family, and His love for us is unchanging.

Try watching a game that has people commentating. Commentating is when a person watching talks about the players playing the game. The person talking is called a commentator. How do the commentators talk about the players? Notice how they talk when there is a good play and when there is a bad play. How do you think you would feel if you were playing and you could hear what the commentators were saying?  Verse 34 asks us who is the one who condemns. Paul answers by saying, "No one." When you feel like you can't get anything right, know that Jesus—the best live love player of all time—is at the right hand of God standing up for you.

My daughter is two years old. Have you ever tried having a conversation with any human under the age of three? It’s almost like language doesn’t matter, right? Even when they’re speaking your language it isn’t really your language. The sounds little kids make blow both the mind and ears, along with any level of logic and comprehension. My daughter will deliver  an entire conversation/speech/sermon/new law/rant of desire (I have no idea, I just know she’s making a lot of noise at the same time for a long time) for several minutes with lots of emphasis, emotion, hand gestures, etc., and I won’t have the slightest clue what to do or say next. There are times when I just don’t get what she’s saying because of our different-ness.

Have you ever felt like this when it comes to your conversations, rants, or prayers with God? Have you ever felt like you communicate in two totally different languages? Have you ever felt like the  different-ness between you and God gets in the way of connecting and communicating?

Paul, in Romans 8:26,27, drops some crazy huge and helpful insights. He says:

We don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.

We have a God who not only longs to connect with us and hear us, but fills in the blanks for us. God helps us communicate and connect with Him. Apparently, it’s so important to God that we connect and feel connected that He helps us not only talk but also listen.

So what does this actually look like? When my two-year-old, Addy, is trying to communicate with me and it’s obvious I just don’t get it, her two older brothers (Noah, 7, and Benjamin, 5) come along and translate on her behalf. They actually say, “Daddy, what Addy is trying to say is. . . .” It works every time.

How does it feel knowing how in love God is with you? How does it feel to know that  you don’t need to have the right words to communicate with Him? God takes care of that. What He wants is you. What does that look like for you? What needs to change in your life?