When God's Grace Mis-pronounced "Help!"

When God's Grace Mispronounced "Help"

by Aaron Schulman 3-24-11

I am continuing to learn new insights about God's Grace through my "now" 3 year old daughter, Linda Grace (we call her Gracie).  Recently, she has learned (in the past 6 months actually) how to say "help".  

Sometimes she can't reach something.  

Sometimes she just needs help putting on her socks or mittens.

Sometimes she becomes frustrated because she can't fit her socks on her best friend (Bearey - her little stuffed Brown Bear)

Regardless of  the turmoil that seems impossible or insurmountable to her,  Daddy or Mommy are able to give her help with what is or seems impossible for her.

The interesting thing about Gracie and her asking for "help" which is the inspiration for this little story, is not so much in that she asks for "help" a lot, but it is very peculiar how she pronounces "help" that triggered these thoughts.

When God's little Grace asks for "help" it sounds like she is saying "HOPE"!

What an interesting twist of thought that continues to come to our hearts and minds when God's little Grace asks for "HOPE".  

A slew of thoughts runs through my mind when I hear Grace ask for "HOPE".

I think of Brian Doerksen's song "Jesus, Hope of the Nations".

It reminds me that anytime a soul cries out for help, they are essentially looking to find "HOPE", and that is exactly what God's Grace offers

HOPE, when we are asking for HELP.

I personally believe that we human beings get so caught up in judging and being judged, that we forget that it is God alone who is righteous enough to judge, and yet through the Blood of Christ, He does not offer judgment or condemnation, but "Hope" when we cry "Help".

I am reminded that when Christ was born, He came to bring HOPE

and when Christ became enraged in the temple, he was still a God of HOPE

and when He washed the feet of the disciples, He was offering HOPE

and when He raised Lazarus from the Dead, He was displaying HOPE

and when He healed the paralytic, the man at the pool, the bleeding woman and the blind, He was offering HOPE.

It is true that Jesus did not come in to the world to condemn it, but to save it, and those that will call upon His name, asking for Help, will find eternal Hope, period.

There's nothing we can add to the Blood of Christ or take away from his Death Burial and Resurrection as the only Hope for mankind for eternity.  

All we can do is look into our lives at the seemingly impossible, the insurmountable and ask for HELP, or as Gracie would ask for it. . .

"HOPE, Daddy. . . Hope Me".

So what about you? 

Have you recently asked Jesus for "Help" or better yet "Hope?

A different perspective on "Hope"

I once heard a very interesting sermon about Hope that the world offers vs.

                                                                 Hope that Christ offers . . .

and now that I am a parent for some time, I understand what it is like to feel like you have let your children down in some ways (especially around Christmas time).

One pastor (and I forget who it was) said something like this:

The hope that a child experiences before Christmas time is not the same as the hope that we can experience as believers in Christ and here is why:

When a child hopes in a new shiny red bicycle for Christmas, or a new dress, or the next best toy or game, that little child places hope in getting something that he or she knows might not arrive.

The child is excited and ambitious, and dreams about it all the same, 

but sometimes, the new bicycle or the new dress or the new game never arrives,

and though the child is still excited on Christmas morning for all of the other gifts he or she received, 

his or her little hear still seeks for the fulfillment of the object where he or she placed his or her hope.

When they unwrap all of the presents, and the shiny new bicycle, new dress, or new game never revealed itself, the child feels an un-suppressible sense of loss or "let down".

As the world, friends, family, life, circumstances is so often full of "let downs" because we often place our hopes and hearts into things that cannot ultimately give us the hope we are in such deep need of knowing, there is One who can offer all of the HELP or HOPE we were created to experience.

The hope we have in Christ, is not in expectation of a Christmas Gift that might not be there, for this is a Hope that is not based on any guarantee,

but when a man, woman or child places his or her entire Hope in Christ, he or she is guaranteed that on that day, He will surely find the complete Hope he or she is seeking.

God never abandons those to whom he has promised Hope in Christ.

Questions for reflections:

What are you placing your hope in?

What would be a great disappointment to you if it did not happen or did not arrive?

Would this indicate that your heart is hoping in something that can let your heart down?