Shepherding the Light

Weekly verse study. Week one

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A question old as time, right? Why do we place our hope in things that we can see? Why does our happiness seem to be linked to tangible items? And does that noise seem to be getting louder as the digital age progresses? And what does Romans 8:24 say is our hope?

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While Paul is not specifically discussing materialism in verse 24, he is discussing our hope for the redemption God has promised; his question gives a powerful doorway into the discussion of what we call hope in our everyday lives. Do we hope in the things we can see; are we so proud of what our human hands have accomplished that we forget God is the creator all things?

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We naturally put confidence in visible things: the house, the bank account, the full pantry, the career, the vacation, the comforts and luxuries that make our life feel secure.

I have to be careful here, because none of these things is necessarily wrong. In fact, scripture repeatedly teaches that good things are gifts from God (James 1:17a).

You see, the danger has never been the gift, it’s what happens when the gift moves from something we receive with gratitude to something we pursue as a source of security, as an identity, or the source of our satisfaction.

Do we hope that God will keep providing more? What happens if we lost it all tomorrow? Would we trust that God has placed us exactly where we need to be to ensure we are redeemed and restored?

I love this verse in Isaiah because it points out the ridiculousness of placing our faith in the things created by human hands.