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By Paula Marolewski, September 22, 2010 10:27 am

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

With hope, we can get up one more time, no matter how exhausted we are. Hope brings determination, courage, and confidence. And the good news is: God is a God of hope.

Where do we find hope to carry on when we are exhausted? Here are four sources of hope that God provides:

Hope from the Word. As we study the Bible, we learn to trust in the character and promises of God, giving us a solid foundation of hope (Romans 15:4).

Hope from the resurrection. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we can be confident that God is at work in our lives now (Romans 8:11). 

Hope from the Spirit. God has set his Spirit in us! One of the activities of the Spirit is to fill us with hope (Romans 15:13). 

Hope from the future. Can the future be a source of hope? Absolutely! Romans 8:23-25 reminds us that we will one day be completely redeemed: body, soul, and spirit. In that day, anxiety will be no more!

• We often think of hope as a feeling, but the actual definition of hope is “a desire accompanied by some confident expectation” (American Heritage Dictionary). Therefore, we may feel terrible or exhausted or anxious, but still live in hope. Compare your understanding of hope with this definition: do you need to adjust your thinking about hope?
• What aspects of your life are most troubling to you right now? What hope does the Bible provide you with regard to those specific matters?
• Spend time in prayer, asking God to fill you with hope through his Spirit.

© 2010 Paula Marolewski, www.SinkYourRoots.com

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By Paula Marolewski, September 22, 2010 10:26 am

We delight in deceiving ourselves when it comes to personal sin:

“I’m not doing anything really wrong.”

“It feels so good – how could there be anything bad about it?”

“This isn’t a sin.”

But if we looked at ourselves in the cold light of day, we would realize we were lying. We know when we’re doing wrong. We just want to keep on doing it, so we excuse it, justify it, or ignore it.

Then, we blame God when we start to reap the consequences of that sin. We blame God when our life takes a nosedive. We blame God when our prayers go unanswered. We blame God when we fall into doubt, depression, and despair.

Forget it. The truth is, if we harbor sin in our life – that is, if we knowingly and willfully continue acting in a manner displeasing to the Lord – then we are responsible for what follows. Not God. We are responsible. Me. You.  

There’s only one remedy. We must get on our knees and get our heart clean, then stand on our feet and get our life clean.

It’s time we quit fooling ourselves.

© 2010 Paula Marolewski, www.SinkYourRoots.com

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By Paula Marolewski, September 22, 2010 10:26 am

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. – Matthew 4:18-20

Did you ever pause to consider that Peter and Andrew really didn’t know what they were getting themselves into? They knew what they were leaving – a known, solid profession – but they had no idea what Jesus was calling them to exchange it for. “I will make you fishers of men”? What did that mean?

But they left their nets and followed him. No questions. No hesitation. No caveats.

Over the next three years, what was involved in Jesus’ call became clearer and clearer. They began to understand the gospel, got used to preaching, and saw lives changed.

Then came Calvary, the empty tomb, the ascension, and Pentecost. That’s when the call finally came into true focus.

I believe God often calls us into ministry (whether professional or lay ministry) the same way today. His voice is unmistakable, his command to follow doesn’t allow for misunderstanding, but he usually leaves the details vague at first. Why? Because he wants us to follow him … not chase after some personal ambition or dream or desire. And because he wants us to follow him … not run ahead of his plan and his timing.

But we frequently resist:

“What, exactly, are you calling me to, God?”

“Can you give me some details here?”

“I need to weigh the pros and cons.”

“I can go, but I have some qualifiers to attach to the contract.”

We want to know how things will work out. What we will be required to do. What the cost will involve. How the future will unfold. Will we be successful? Will we be happy? Will we be fulfilled?

Did you ever stop to think that by asking questions like that, you are placing yourself above God? You’re treating him like a vacuum-cleaner salesman on your front doorstep: “Show me what you’re selling and I’ll tell you if I’m buying.”

We forget that he delivers a call – not a request. He didn’t ask Peter and Andrew if they would consider coming with him. He called them: “Come, follow me.”

Put aside your questions. Your hesitations. Your caveats.

Forget asking God for guarantees or security.

Follow the call. He’ll make everything clear to you in his time.

© 2010 Paula Marolewski, www.SinkYourRoots.com

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By Paula Marolewski, September 22, 2010 10:25 am

“Why has my pain been perpetual and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream with water that is unreliable?” Jeremiah 15:18

You need not be ashamed of your doubts. Doubting is very human. Even great prophets like Jeremiah, whose lips had been touched by God himself, doubted.

Here, Jeremiah was doubting God’s goodness and reliability. He knew God existed and had called him, but God seemed to have let him down. God didn’t appear to be providing either the resources or the results his prophet expected.

In your struggles in life, you are very likely to have the same doubts at some point – perhaps at many points: “Where are you, God? Do you care? Where are your resources? What happened to your promises? Where is your presence? I feel so alone – so abandoned.”

When you have these doubts, take this for comfort: even the great prophets of old had those questions. You don’t need to be ashamed because of your doubts. Acknowledge them. Admit them.

And remember this: ultimately, God never let them down. The same will be true for you.

• What kind of doubts do you struggle with most frequently?
• What does it mean to you to realize that men and women of great faith through all the millennia have doubted as you are doubting now?

© 2010 Paula Marolewski, www.SinkYourRoots.com

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By Paula Marolewski, September 22, 2010 10:24 am

This morning I considered two quotes. One is from a movie version of the Agatha Christie novel Death on the Nile, where a self-centered and arrogant young woman comments, “Isn’t it awful when one’s friends fall on hard times? One simply has to drop them!”

The other is a quote from J.R.R. Tolkien. It says, “Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”

What kind of a friend are you? When your friends are crushed under life’s circumstances … when doubt and depression and grief overtake them … when the pain seems to go on without end … what will you do?

Will you immediately wash your hands of them? After all, they don’t have anything they can give to you. They can’t meet your needs in the middle of their own crisis.

Will you keep the relationship going for a little while, but with less and less energy and initiative on your part until it finally fritters away? Get on with your own life and leave them behind to succeed or fail on their own?

Or will you be faithful when the road darkens? Will you walk the entire length with them, the whole Via Dolorosa? Knowing it’s going to cost you. Knowing it’s going to hurt. Knowing it’s going to be a long, long tunnel before they come out the other side. 

What kind of a friend are you?

© 2010 Paula Marolewski, www.SinkYourRoots.com

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By Paula Marolewski, September 22, 2010 10:24 am

Remember the old declaration? “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways!” Well, I thought of a new twist on it yesterday: “How do I sin against Thee? Let me count the ways!”

You see, I’d been ticked off at something. That’s not necessarily a sin. But then I opened my mouth and spouted off about it. That’s where the trouble began.

When I went to confess the sin of what I had said, I realized that wasn’t all I’d done:

• I had been inappropriately angry. (I actually had no true justification to be angry at all.)
• I had focused on one problem in life, and shown a complete lack of gratitude for my many blessings.
• I had wallowed in resentment and bitterness.
• I had been … shall we say … less than edifying to the person I spouted off to.
• I had been judgmental and prejudiced in my attitude.

What an ugly list. But that is often what happens when we sin … a single sin always invites its friends to the party.

So be sure to ask yourself, next time you kneel in confession: “How do I sin against Thee?”

But be sure to finish the declaration with, “Let me repent of the ways!”

© 2010 Paula Marolewski, www.SinkYourRoots.com

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By Paula Marolewski, September 22, 2010 10:23 am

I was recently in a small group setting where the subject under discussion was community in the Christian church:  that community should be the center of our life.

Unfortunately, I see a problem – and I see it right in the church pews on Sunday morning. The problem is this: people often don’t practice community in the pews. Couples sit together with empty chairs on either side. Families sit together … again, with empty space on either side.

Sure, sometimes folk sit with other folk. But as a single person who has done a lot of observing and also a lot of chatting with other singles, I can tell you this: it is all too easy as a single to sit by yourself on Sunday morning. Alone. In the very place where you should experience fellowship.

Not only singles are affected in this way. I also see couples who are hurting sitting wrapped in their own lonely spaces. Or newcomers with no one next to them.

It’s easy for couples and families who are feeling healthy and positive not to notice these islands of isolation. When you are with your loved ones, you may not realize that others are not sitting alone by choice. Let’s face it, we tend to be self-centered by (fallen) nature. If we’re happy, we don’t realize that someone else may not be.

But my friends, if we can’t practice community in the pews, I find it hard to believe we really practice it in the church. If we don’t take this simplest of actions – to take the initiative to sit with those who are single, sorrowing, or strangers – how can we ever expect to become a community characterized by true sacrificial love … which is, after all, the foundation of true community?

© 2010 Paula Marolewski, www.SinkYourRoots.com

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By Paula Marolewski, September 22, 2010 10:21 am

As a single person, I’ve asked a lot of people about marriage. Over time, I became exceedingly frustrated at the comment I heard most often – and usually first out of their mouths:

“Marriage is a lot of work.”

I finally sat down and analyzed my response to this #1 comment. Why did I resent it so much? Why did it make me so angry? After all, I reasoned, everything I’ve read and heard about marriage does state clearly that a lot of work is involved. So why did I feel so negative toward this comment? Did I have my head in the clouds? Did I not want to admit that work was involved in making a marriage?

Then I realized what I was responding to. It wasn’t the concept of work – it was the way people said it: “Marriage is a lot of work,” said with a sigh, a droop of the shoulders, and a hint of long years of suffering. No mention of the rewards. The benefits. The joys.

It was rather as if they were talking about slaving away in the salt mines.

Now that, I thought, isn’t right!

I broached the subject with yet another married friend – one who has a great marriage that I really look up to. She listened, then replied thoughtfully, “I wouldn’t describe marriage as a lot of work. It simply requires constant energy and attention – just like anything of value in life.”

What a difference in perspective! Energy and attention. Not work. Not slaving away. Not long-suffering. Her attitude seemed to connect her, not with the salt mines, but with high-voltage electrical power lines: infusing her and her marriage with vibrancy and vitality. When she would speak of her marriage in casual conversation, her comments were invariably filled with the joys, fulfillment, and contentment that her marriage brought her and her spouse.

As I thought this over, I found an analogy that made sense to me. I love gardening, and my little yard is full to the brim with flowers from early spring well into fall. Do I consider my garden “work”? No, I don’t. Even though every day requires some combination of watering, weeding, dead-heading, checking for pests or disease, cleaning up, etc.

My garden simply requires my constant energy and attention. Otherwise, it will look a mess in no-time flat. I don’t give that energy and attention grudgingly: I love to give it, even when I may not be thrilled with a particular activity (like weeding). It’s all part of having a garden. Giving energy and attention increases my satisfaction; it doesn’t diminish it. With a regular flow of care, there is plenty of time to relax and enjoy the beauty of my yard.

But, you know, it would be easy to consider all the tasks of gardening “work,” and resent them or sigh with resignation about them. The tasks wouldn’t have changed … just my attitude toward them.

So here’s my question: what difference would it make if couples stopped looking at marriage as requiring “a lot of work,” and started thinking in terms of giving “energy and attention”? That simple positive shift in understanding, attitude, and perspective might free them from the salt mines and connect them with the power lines!

© 2010 Paula Marolewski, www.SinkYourRoots.com

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By Paula Marolewski, September 17, 2010 1:55 pm

Jesus did not teach us to pray, “Thy will happen.” He taught us to pray, “Thy will be done.”

Go do it!

© 2010 Paula Marolewski, www.SinkYourRoots.com

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By Paula Marolewski, September 10, 2010 10:52 am

“I sought the LORD, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4 

I am ashamed to admit it, but the fact is that when I am afraid, I often forget to pray.

God’s name should be first on my lips when fear hits. He should be the One I turn to immediately. But instead, all too regularly, I forget. Instead of calling on him, I try to rely on myself. Instead of turning to him, I turn my whole gaze inward, focusing on the fear, focusing on my lack of strength, focusing on me, me, me, me, me. No wonder fear gets such a strong grip on my soul!

The psalmist knew better: “When I was afraid, I sought the Lord. He’s the one I turned to. He answered. He delivered.”

Now, a word of caution here: relief is not always immediate. God’s answer and deliverance may unfold over months or years. God will definitely call you to give it your 100%. God may require that you make changes to your lifestyle and behaviors and thought patterns. God might ask you to look certain fears dead in the eye that you have avoided for years.

God doesn’t promise a timeframe around deliverance. He just promises that it is a sure thing.

So seek the Lord. Pour out your needs before him. Ask him for his help. For his strength. For his resources. For his deliverance. “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened” (Luke 11:10).

• What is your first response when fear hits? What do you do? Why?
• Do you truly believe that God is willing and able to deliver you from your fears? Why or why not?
• Have you ever, in essence, demanded or expected God to work a miracle – and when he didn’t do so, you became disappointed in him and apathetic about further prayer? If so, address this with God in prayer. Seek counsel if necessary.
• What resources has God given you to help you overcome your fear?
• What further steps might God be calling you to take in order to overcome your fear? 

© 2010 Paula Marolewski, www.SinkYourRoots.com

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