Every day brings new drama. Good grief! What on earth? How will I respond to THIS NEW THING NOW?!”

And so with each day there is also an expectation to give an answer to all the *new* questions swirling around the latest commotion. Take this week for an example:

Jen and Brandon Hatmaker said exactly WHAT now? And then Lifeway Bookstore did WHAT then? Good Lord, what is my response going to be to this new thing? What is my position as a Christ-follower, people-lover, and minister of the gospel?

AND, as a woman who trusts in the flawless and unchanging truth of all Scripture – do I need to make a public statement to my people? Again? Every new day?

“Be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope that you have.”

But daily drama is nothing new. All the questions, tensions and conundrums are not new. In fact, there is no *new* thing under the sun. Take Eve for another example.

In the beginning, Eve – a woman who walked with God – loved all of her Father’s very good things. She loved the goodness, beauty, harmony, and the shalom of Eden. But Eve didn’t love all of God’s verbal instruction, and opted to trust her own reasoning rather than God’s wisdom.

In other words, like I so frequently do, Eve thought more highly of her own understanding and too little of God’s. She took the enemy’s bait and trusted in her own words, her own ways, and her own means.

And what was the result of her actions on that day, and every day since then? Yes. Exactly. So much drama.

Think about some drama that you were recently the cause of. Can you see just a bit of Eve’s story in yours? Were you absolutely certain your instincts and words were spot on, only to find out otherwise?

You aren’t alone of course. It’s our human condition, our free will, to be able to choose each day in whose word we will trust. And some days (most days?) we tend to choose rather badly.

But today is a new day! Who will we trust TODAY? Will we put our hope in the protective care of a wise and holy God? Will we trust in his words of loving instruction?

Or will we hope that our own word – our better word – will bring us even more goodness, beauty, harmony, and shalom than we think God is willing or able to provide?

“Be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope that you have.”

One of the great mysteries of the gospel is that Jesus completely trusted in all of holy scripture. Genesis. Exodus. Leviticus. The Law. The Prophets. The Psalms. The boring bits. The difficult bits. The unsettling bits. ALL OF IT JESUS TRUSTED. It was the word of his father, and he trusted his father.

This is the reason for our hope then. This is our answer to anyone who asks: In God’s true  word Jesus always put his hope. And if Christ saw fit to cling to the words of his Heavenly Father in the midst of the greatest drama in human history, then surely we can too?

Peace to you. Because your hope is in a God whose word has the power to give life, meaning, and rest – true and lasting shalom – to all heaven and earth, now and forever.

Kim