Closer than You Think

“Hope is often so close that we don’t recognize it.”

Loren Thornburg

In the midst of things it’s hard to tell what is going on. It reminds me of a type of painting known as Pointillism. Small dots of color are used to form an image. If you stand up close to the painting all you can see are dots of color, however from farther away the dots come to life, forming an image. I am finding much of life is similar to pointillism. Each day is a dot forming the story and the image of my life. I live it up close, unable to see the beautiful painting being created. The difficulties and problems are so close that I can’t see the ways they are making something beautiful. In this pain I don’t know that the other dots I see are forming a picture of hope. It is in these times when I am closest to the hope, yet it’s hard to see it for what it really is. From time to time we get to step back and see that the dots are more than dots, the pain is more than pain, and what we thought was destruction was instead our saving. Hope can finally be seen as more than dots. Look for it. It may be closer than you think.

“...They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that they must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations.”

Acts 14:22 NLT

I found myself kneeling at the foot of a cross. I looked up and all I could see was a pole. I knew I was at the foot of a cross but I realized although I was about as close as you can get to the cross without hugging it, it looked less like a cross than it had when I stood farther away. It reminded me of times when in the middle of suffering Jesus seemed so far away, but then in looking back I was able to see He was actually holding me through it all. When we look at the truth of the gospel we see how closely suffering is tied to following Jesus. It was through His suffering in life and on the cross that we have come to know our greatest hope. Paul and Barnabus are reminding the believers of this truth that believers today need to be reminded of as well. I so often need this reminder. Tribulations are not God’s abandonment of us, but they are His invitation for us to enter His Kingdom. So we can cling to the pole trusting there is a cross, a greater picture of hope. Hope that saves us, hope that holds us, and hope that never leaves us.