Archives for August 2017

This is part 3 in the series: “Finding Hope when your Story is Unfinished”.  To catch up:

Click here for Part 1: The Ending Will Be Good

Click here for Part 2 : Moving From Lament to Hope

Part 3: Getting to Know the WHO of Hope

In the Fall of 2003, each morning I would arrive to work, open up my laptop and wait with baited breath for an email. I’d sit alone in a stark European office, watching that screen as if my life depended on it.   As the computer booted up, my heart beat quickened and my stomach fluttered with butterflies.

I waited, wondering if I’d see a certain name in my inbox.

This was back in my Corporate America days. I met Justin in 2003 while visiting home in South Carolina, and promptly had to hop on a plane to return to my short-term international assignment in Europe.  Calling cards were expensive, so we mostly emailed.

Most mornings I’d see his name in my inbox, and my heart would skip a beat as I slowly read every word.I was hanging on every word he said.

My future with Justin in those early days was uncertain. We had just met and were discovering together whether or not our young relationship would gain traction.  I hung on every one of his words because I wanted to uncover his heart for our future together.

As we seek to find hope in the midst of our unfinished story, we can hang on God’s every word in Scripture, and be encouraged by the One who holds our future.

God’s will for your life is for you to have hope TODAY in whatever circumstance you’re facing. Romans 15:13 says “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Romans 15:4 tells us that God gives us His Word so that we might have hope.  When we’re walking through a season of darkness, God’s Word illuminates the dark path and gives us just enough light for the step that we’re on. As we seek to find hope while our story is still unfinished, God’s Word reminds us that a good God holds our future. His Word is true, His promises unfailing.

A mind saturated in God’s Word creates a soul satisfied in God’s Hope.

Why Scripture is Essential in Giving us Hope:

As we spend time reading and studying God’s Word, we embark on a journey to:

• Understand God’s Character and
• Understand God’s Ways in Suffering

Understanding God’s Character

As we saturate our mind in God’s Word, we begin to trust who God is, and become convinced that He is for us and we were created to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever.  This side of heaven, our “enjoying Him forever” includes having a joy-filled hopeful expectation that no matter how our story is written, that the ending will be good!

Scripture illuminates the beautiful Gospel of Jesus, the scarlet thread of scripture woven from beginning to end.  Because of Jesus, we can draw near to our Holy God. Jesus gives us access to God the Father. The veil separating us from the Holiness of God was torn in two! We can approach the throne of grace without fear.  Hope is the anchor of our soul, and our ultimate hope is established in the work of Jesus.

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain. Hebrews 6:19

Understanding God’s Ways in Suffering

We can never fully understand God’s ways.  Isaiah 55:8 tells us that God’s ways are higher than our ways, however His Word begins to illuminate the fact that our suffering has purpose.  We read accounts of people in the bible like Joseph, or Job, and especially Jesus and we witness that very difficult trials birth beauty.  We are strengthened as God’s Word tells us that our pain has purpose, and that God will use the most difficult parts of our journey to prepare us for what He has ahead.

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5

Now, let’s get practical.  You may be reading this, nodding your head. You understand the importance of getting in God’s Word every day but you don’t know where to start.  It’s difficult to find time in your full days.  I’ve been there!

Here’s are two practical tips that I’ve found helpful in developing a discipline of getting in God’s Word every day:

Set Apart Time

Carve out a set apart time in your day to spend time in God’s Word.  Start with 15 minutes. Place a high priority on this time.  I prefer the morning because the children are still sleeping and it starts my day centered on God.  My successful morning starts the night before, and I must get to bed at a decent time to get up early to spend time with the Lord.  Not a morning person? That’s ok! Maybe your time with God is on your lunch break, during a child’s nap time, or in the evening before bed.

Accountability

Pair up with a friend who also wants to get in God’s Word daily and hold each other accountable.  You could ask a friend to wake up 15 or 30 minutes early and text each other that you’re awake and in God’s Word.  You could text a photo of the scripture you’re reading that day. While you’re at it, share how you can pray for one another throughout the day. We’re better together!

I’m working on developing a free, downloadable resource for you to help you overcome the obstacles you experience in getting in God’s Word every day.  I know how much developing a daily discipline of getting in God’s Word has meant in my life.  These early mornings with a hot cup of coffee and my bible spread open have served to establish me and infuse hope into my weary, discouraged soul.  I want to give you hope and help you overcome the challenges you face.  This is one small way I would love to serve you and come alongside you on your journey toward hope.

This is where you can help!

Please answer this one simple question:

What obstacles prevent you from developing a daily discipline of Bible study? 

You can respond by commenting to this blog post, writing a comment on Facebook or Instagram, sending me a private facebook message or emailing me at brooke (at) brookeaturner.com

Thank you in advance for your honest input as I develop a resource to equip women to get in God’s Word every day.

Earlier posts in this series:

Part 1: The Ending Will Be Good

Part 2: Moving from Lament to Hope

In December 2016 I learned the breast cancer had returned. I was embarking on a new “divine adventure”.

I felt like a walking contradiction.

My emotions were a strange mix of deep lament and deep hope.

In one moment, I wondered if my children’s story would be one without a mother.  I wondered if Justin’s story would be one without a wife.  These very real possibilities made me very very sad.  I remember tossing and turning at night, praying for peace within the unknowns.  I was so sad for my family and the difficult journey that could lie ahead for them.

There were also moments that I specifically remember where winds of overwhelming hope would blow through my soul.  It would take me by surprise, and cause me to pause and wonder if I was delusional.  It didn’t feel normal.  This hope was not hope that I’d be ok, but rather hope that IT would be ok.  See the difference?  

At night I’d still have imaginary images that haunted me – images that clicked through like future motion pictures on the big-screen of my mind’s eye.  I’d see Selah trying on wedding dresses without my encouragement, Hannah applying her prom makeup without my help, Samuel graduating high school without my obnoxious cheers from the audience.  These thoughts made me cry.  A lot.  (They still do…)  

But then, there it was again.  The surprising winds of hope that it would be ok, actually better than just ok. That God was in this, as painful as the possibilities were.  There was a bigger story being written here, and the end was good.

There is a misconception that lament and hope cannot coexist.  We sometimes believe that hope means no tears or struggle.  We mistakenly believe that if we have hope, we jump straight to the good, bypassing the hard.

We learn in Scripture that it is ok, even HOLY, to sit for a while in the lament.  There is a whole book of the bible dedicated to Lamentations.  We ought not move through the lament too quickly.

It is my experience that deep lament stretches my capacity for deep hope.

As the brokenness of this world intersects our lives we feel it very deeply…and that is sacred.  Jesus felt deeply – He wept as He grieved the death of his friend Lazarus.  He pleaded for God to remove the cup of suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane.  

Jesus is our perfect example as we seek to become comfortable with the tension of lament and hope dwelling together in the same soul.  He asked for God to remove His suffering, but persevered for the joy set before Him.  He IS Hope.

As we deeply feel the brokenness of this world, we can deeply experience the hope of the One who has overcome this brokenness.

Lament births sorrow; hope births joy.  The apostle Paul tells us to be “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.”  (2 Corinthians 6:10)   Lament and joy can co-exist.  It’s an uncomfortable tension that will only be resolved when our journey on earth is complete.

As we desire to move from lament to hope, there are two essential spiritual disciplines which gather soul kindling to spark hope:

1. Saturating your mind in God’s Word
2. Covering your circumstances in prayer

God’s Word and prayer, wrapped in the context of community, are beautiful gifts that God gives us and can come alongside as we move from lament to hope.

In the next couple of blog posts, I’ll unpack each of these, and get very practical about what it’s looked like in my life.  I’ll share what I’ve found helpful and I pray it encourages you as you seek to find hope in the middle of your own unfinished story.

Click here for more on Learning to Lament

Part 1: The Ending Will Be Good

Eight years ago a friend spoke words over me that I hope I never forget.

“Brooke, God is writing a story with your life.  I don’t know how the story is going to end, but it’s going to be good”.

Moments earlier, through tears, I had shared with a group of friends about our long struggle to conceive. Medically, our options were limited.  We weren’t guaranteed I’d ever get pregnant, but that day my friend’s words infused hope into my soul.  I was reminded that even though my story was unfinished, I could be certain that the ending would be good. 

Today, eight years later, I write from a Starbucks in Houston.  The biggest chunk of my heart is in Columbia SC -1,065 miles away (to be exact).  It feels weird to walk around with most of my heart missing.

I have Stage IV breast cancer.  I’m being treated by the world’s best cancer team at MD Anderson Cancer Center, half a country away from my husband and children. All of the normal bits of life are moving along without me:  last minute summer reading, filling the final hot summer days, and target runs for school supplies.  Soon my kindergartner and second graders will walk into a new school-year without the comfort of Mommy’s embrace.  No doubt, this is hard.

I’m at MD Anderson because they give me medical hope that few other places in the world can provide.  Even at one of the highest rated cancer centers in the world, they cannot guarantee that the cancer will be gone forever.  Even though my story is unfinished, I can be certain that the ending will be good.   

What is Biblical Hope?

Biblical hope is not wishing for our circumstances to improve (“I hope the treatments work”).  Our hope cannot be in the happy ending we desire.  (“I hope I’ll have a baby one day”).  This is earthly hope which is flimsy and wrapped in uncertainty.

Biblical hope is vastly different.

Biblical hope is hope not in the harvest of our desires, but in the Healer of our yearning heart.

Biblical hope is having a confident expectation that God will turn the ashes of your life to beauty. (Isaiah 61:3)

My definition of hope:  the certainty of God’s future goodness and grace.

Join me for a Five Part Blog Series

Over the next few weeks I will be writing a series on “Finding Hope When Your Story is Unfinished.”  Hope is a topic that is warm and fuzzy, but can be difficult to wrap our arms around.

Consider this blog series a vessel of hope to the suffering sister.  My prayer is that these words will feel less like blog posts, and more like a good friend on the journey.  There is so much pain, so much hurt, but so much beauty.  I am spurred on by your emails and facebook messages and instagram comments.  We all need hope, and I see a crisis of hope in our generation. 

I long to sit across the table from you and hear your story, and look to the Lord together.  Outside of the minstry to my family, this is the greatest passion of my life: extending the hope of Christ to weary women.  So, ladies (and maybe a fellow or two)- let’s pretend we’re at Starbucks across the table, sharing our stories, looking to Jesus and cheering one another on as we seek Him together.

Together we will unpack:

-What it means to fight for hope, and why is it such a fight?

-Why Scripture is essential in our search for hope, and practical ways to dive into God’s Word when you don’t know where to start

-The importance of prayer, and some ideas when you feel like your prayers are hitting the ceiling

-The purpose of community in finding hope

-Practical ways God has helped me find hope in the thick of the suffering

Is there something in your life right now which feels hopeless, and the story is unfinished? Perhaps you’re single and you don’t want to be.  Maybe your child is wayward, a chronic illness plagues your body, or an empty womb breaks your heart. Is it a broken marriage or financial distress?  Join me for the next few weeks as we together find hope when our stories are unfinished.

“Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.”  Psalm 33:22