Return to the stronghold, prisoners of hope. Zechariah 9:12
I just learned how to snorkel in Florida. I had never tried it before, but it seemed pretty straightforward. Put a tube in your mouth, breathe air underwater. How hard can this be?
Well.... my body didn't like the idea. I discovered I had a reflex response that prevented me from breathing when my face was underwater. My body just didn't believe that it could breathe when it felt water on the skin of my face. I tried several times, and just couldn't do it. I thought about quitting, but I kept trying, and eventually I overcame my reflex response and soon was happily swimming and watching the fish beneath me.
I suspect many of us have a reflex response toward fear and away from hope these days. We keep hearing messages from people we respect and media we trust that the world is falling apart, and we need to fear the people around us.
How hard is it for us to feel hope these days? Do we quit and turn toward the fear that is familiar?
I came across this verse from the Prophet Zechariah last December, and I made a screen wallpaper for my phone to remind me to return to God's stronghold as a prisoner of hope. What if I lived like I was hopelessly hopeful?
Hope is something we say we want, but changing habits is hard work. Do I get out of bed with hope for the day ... Do we work and play and spend time with others in a state of hope ... Do we complain and gripe and share negative comments that come from a place of fear and worry... What is our habit in our daily lives: hope or fear?
I had hoped to snorkel and see fish, but I almost gave up because of fear. Maybe I need to change who I listen to, and what media I consume. What if I organized my day around hope and joy and peace, and avoided fear and worry and complaints?
Easter reminds us that God offers hope that overcomes fear. In this Easter season, let's keep trying to put hope first, and drop the habit of fear. Amen.
Pastor Anna-Lisa Hunter
March 27, 2024
