Faith, Hope, Love.

Three choice words of paramount significance.  Faith, hope, love. It is the phrase I chose to engrave on the inside of my wife’s wedding ring before we said our vows.  When we picked out our wedding bands, I had not given it the thought, not realizing I could even choose a phrase to engrave.  But when asked by the jeweler, I jumped at the chance.  “Yes, I think I will.  How about writing ‘Faith, Hope, Love.’”  

I thought it perfect.

Thinking deeply, isn’t it what we all need today?  No matter where you live, what town, city, or country you are from, those three simple words can swell the heart and soul of the human spirit and propel us forward in a dark and chaotic world.

Ponder them for a minute.  Those three choice words.  Is there a substitute to any of them?  I challenge you to apply the thought.  Switch out any of the three and insert any of the things that we as a culture in 2021 are chasing.  Pick anything.  Try it.  I dare you.  Just for examples, I’ll show you what I mean.  Faith, hope, riches. . . no, that doesn’t satisfy.  How about something else?  Faith, fame, power. . . no, the reward of those have left many lacking.  Let’s keep trying.  Knowledge, social status, security. . . nope, those things will ultimately leave one empty inside.  Even health, without faith, hope, and love, will leave us high and dry in the end.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13.

And so there I was, in the midst of a chaotic world, the same chaotic world that you are surrounded and living in.  Understanding that some of you are going through difficult times as well, you know exactly how one can get worn and weary with it all.  And we turn to the Lord.  We pray for the light.  We ask, seek, knock.  We diligently pursue the Lord for things we desire.

And sometimes, despite our prayers, the world keeps spinning the same.

It was before our candles were lit, during the message.  We were at a candlelight service.  I was one whose faith was running thin and pressed sore and was peering into the eyes of eternity asking God why things in my life are difficult.  You see, I’ve been waiting to see some action on some things that I’ve been praying about.  Some evidence that the Lord is going to hold true to what he says and promises.  And because of the delay, I’ve been, can you say, “a bit grumpy in my faith?”

Faith.  Hope.  Love.

Are not these the three things we need?

No, we are not worthy of the moments when the Lord speaks to us.  It is a gift that we receive often, sometimes taking for granted, one that Old Testament saints did not enjoy as frequently as we.  Quite possibly, this quiet whisper may have been the best Christmas blessing I could have received this year.  A gift.  A revelation.  Somewhat of an epiphany.  The Lord spoke it as clear as a bell.

If you are waiting to receive an answer to prove your faith, then it isn’t faith.

The thought washed over me and melted into a cold core.

Yes, faith, true faith, does not need an answer to validate its existence.  It is independent of any answer or action or conditional fulfillment.  Faith stands alone.  And I had forgotten that.  In that silent and sweet moment, I realized that I had it all wrong.  To wait on the reception and expectation of my faith to substantiate it. . . that mentality showed the lack of faith.

Wow.

This Christmas, I want to share to the hurting world the exact thing that I received as a hurting soul.  Faith, hope, love.  Those three things were embodied in Jesus Christ over two-thousand years ago on a silent night in Bethlehem.  Those three things are really all we need.  Jesus is all we need.  If we never receive another thing in addition to what he has already given us, in any situation, those three things are sufficient to carry us through.

Jesus can carry us through.

He has carried me.

By Chuck Carr.