“Entire chunks of my life make sense to me now,” seems to be the Quote-of-the-Day after our three services. Pretty bold, I know.

But I’ll admit, this Sunday’s truth was liberating for me too. I’ve grappled with the same questions you did. How do I get fired up about tough times when I don’t get the point, when I’ve barely survived, much less flourished from them (James 1:2, 3)? How do I trust that good things happen in the foulness of life, when all I feel is destroyed by it (Romans 8:28)?

Song writer Imogen Heap broke it down, “Everybody says, that time heals everything. But what of the wretched hallow? The endless in-between? Are we just going to wait it out?” Such a necessary question for you and me. How do we make sense of a breaking point or breakdown? Do we “wait it out” and hope that time just fixes it? Or is there something else?

God gives us two effects:
1) The Point: Sometimes He just unveils exactly why we went through X, Y, and Z. God sneaks up in a blah moment, flips on the light and says, “Hey, do you remember when you went through that tar pit back-in-the-day? Well, here’s the reason why…”

Otherwise, we get something else.

2) The Promise: A lot of times we don’t get any explanation for the trial; it’s just God doing what He does to grow us up. So instead of getting The Point, He gives us a promise instead. What promise? Someday He will renew everything (Heaven, Earth and History), walk among us fully (no shrouds) and unfold the mysteries of space and time, and, if we still care, the brilliant colors of our human story (Rev 21:1-5).

Like it or not, The Point or The Promise is the essence that fills the “in-between.” It’s what allows joy in the sadness, and good-stuff to shine through the bleariness ahead or behind.

Makes me HOPE BIG and a little hope world.