I'm Trusting and Hoping for Good Coffee

I have an uncoffee friend who is a very new Christian. She came to the Lord early this summer in a Starbucks coffee shop where we shared the Sinner’s Prayer with her and she accepted Christ’s salvation. All of her friends were there and held her hand as she said the prayer and we rejoiced in her new found hope. I need to add here, though, that she is trying to become a real coffee fan and we often get pictures of her coffee outings where she is trying not to have uncoffee, but I think that each night she will continue her instant coffee routine. (We still love her a lot!)

I want to point out the sentence above about her new found hope. This is where we will start today as we continue the topic of faith. Hebrews 11:1 mentions this hope. It says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hope is definitely something this world is lacking. My uncoffee friend went through a tremendous season where she felt there was no hope for what was happening in her life. Her son was dealing with unheard of medical problems that seemed to have no chance of getting better. Because of this her marriage and her relationship with her daughter also were on the rocks because the medical issue presented such overwhelming problems on a day-to-day basis. Here was this incredible mom and teacher who was at her wits end and had no hope. Until she put her faith in Jesus Christ. She had been part of our Christian book study for quiet some time and prayed on a regular basis with our school group who prayed daily. She was looking, wanting, HOPING for something that would help her life change. Then BAM!!!! Christ showed up. Isn’t that just like Him? The Bible says to be faithful, even to the point of death, and He will give you life as your victor’s crown. (Rev. 2:10) Our God so desires to bring goodness to our lives and all he asks for is your faith and in return we will live this life and the next life in a glorious manner.

Now, let’s be clear, this does not mean we will live a life that is without struggle. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.” There are and will be struggles every day of our lives, but what God wants us to know is that through faith in him, we can overcome these struggles and live in hope of better things. My sweet friend has done just that. She gave her struggles over to Christ and in this faith, she has seen her life turn and has had an “Epic Summer” as her family has titled it.

The Bible shares so many stories of faith in which peoples’ lives are changed because during their struggles, they had faith. You may be familiar with some of these stories; Daniel’s faithfulness while in the lion’s den (Dan. 6:1-28), Job’s faithfulness in the face of overwhelming trials (Job ch. 1-42), David and the fight with the mighty Goliath (1 Sam 17: 1-58). All of these stories tell of a faith in God that led each person to victory, a victory in Christ.

I have always loved the story of the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3: 1-30) This is a story of faith as these three faithful believers never gave up on their God who had always promised them great things. These three men refused to bow down to a foreign God because they were faithful to the one True God. When they were asked to bow down, they refused and because of this they were thrown into a fiery oven. They knew what was coming. They knew this would be the outcome, but their faith was so strong because of the promises of God, they knew that even if he didn’t show up to rescue them, they would never bow down to another god. They were committed to their faith, no matter the outcome. But they had faith He would show up. Because of these men’s faith, the were not burned up, yet they were seen walking around inside the furnace. AND, God was seen in there with them. I love that!!! I can picture it. I sure hope they were laughing and dancing and just doing silly things as the king watched in awe. This shows that we can survive anything with God’s intervention because we have the faith that he will provide.

Faith simply means completely relying on who Jesus is and what he has done. In all of the above examples we can see what God can do when we have faith. These are the tangible examples of a God that we don’t see. In each of these examples we see a hope that no matter what the struggle, there is a way out and that is through Jesus.

Romans 15:13 promises, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Because of our faith in Christ, we can have a hope. True hope comes by trusting God even when circumstances are difficult. Trust produces obedience, which produces hope, which results in joy and peace; and that is the power of the Holy Spirit. All in all --- Faith!

God can give you the power to face each struggle that might come by turning your focus to the hope you have in Jesus and placing all your faith and hope in the One who died for you so that you may live.

This week I had to have faith in my French press to provide a great cup for me due to the lack of electricity in my camper. It did not fail. My hope was restored. At the same time, I had to have faith in my great God to provide for me when my financial situation was taxed due to much needed repairs. Just like my uncoffee friend, and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, in much different struggles than mine, I had hope and faith in Christ to take ahold of my struggle and provide for me.

You can have this hope to help you through your struggles as well, by putting your faith in Jesus and allowing him to be in control of it all.

Sit down with your coffee, now, maybe in your back yard, or sunroom, or on the beach, or by a mountain stream and reflect on the hope you have in Jesus Christ. If you are lacking faith, take this time to read about and study all the stories of faith in the Bible. Let God show you in his Word, exactly how to have a faith and hope to lead you to a life that is unbelievable.