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Episode 21: Living with Hope When Life Feels Really Hard
76 Plays5 years ago
This Week’s Key Idea:
Our heavenly hope must infuse our earthly hope.
Mentioned in this episode:
Resource:
Order In a Boat in the Middle of a Lake here: inaboatbook.com or Amazon
Connect with Ruth here:
Connect with Pat here:
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This podcast is produced and edited by Angie Elkins Media, Inc.
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Transcript
Introduction to Root Like Faith
00:00:08
Speaker
I'm Ruth Schwank and I'm so thrilled you're listening in with us at Root Like Faith. It's our deepest desire to encourage and equip men and women to be rooted in God's word, transformed by the love of Jesus and moved by his mission in the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing is more important.
Shifting Perspectives to Heavenly Hope
00:00:25
Speaker
Today we are talking about hope. You know in the midst of chaos it can be easy to despair so we want to talk about shifting our perspective from an earthly one to a heavenly one. I don't know about you but this is just what I need to be reminded of today. So let's get started.
Celebrating New Book Release
00:00:47
Speaker
On today's episode of Root Like Faith, we are talking about living with hope. But first we have something that we want to celebrate because today is the release of our brand new book. Honey, what are you laughing at?
00:01:04
Speaker
I'm laughing at your enthusiasm. I like it. No, it's great. I feel really happy because of how happy you are. That's why I'm laughing. Fill me with great joy. OK, well, listen, it's a long road to releasing a book. It is. It's a couple of years, the process. So this is just an incredible day to celebrate. It is a very exciting day, finally.
00:01:25
Speaker
Finally, the release of our brand new book, In a Boat in the Middle of a Lake, Trusting the God Who Meets Us in our Storm. And we've been talking about this book over the last several weeks and kind of sharing different people's stories with you. We hope that those have been an encouragement to you if you find yourself right now in a boat in the middle of a lake.
Hope Amidst Trials and Transformation
00:01:46
Speaker
But we are celebrating the launch today. And we thought, gosh, out of all things to talk about,
00:01:52
Speaker
Hope is where we'd want to start. So before we get going on the topic, I do want to share with you just a little bit about the book. And this is actually from our publicity statement. And I think it really sums up the book well. So if you have been thinking about buying the book, today is the day. This is our release day. And we'd love nothing more than for you to celebrate with us. And we are so, so grateful for your support. So this is what they have to say about the book.
00:02:21
Speaker
In a boat in the middle of a lake, trusting the God who meets us in our storm is their story, and they're talking about us, Pat and I, but it's also everyone's story. At some point, we all find ourselves in a boat in the middle of a lake, uncertain about what is going to happen next, in danger of sinking as the storm rages. The good news is that we are not alone. God is with us, and just as he was trustworthy on the shore, he is trustworthy in the middle of the lake.
00:02:51
Speaker
In their compassionate and powerful new book, the Schwenks weave together lessons from their own experience with insightful Bible teaching. They help readers see that one of the greatest ways God transforms His children is through trials. The authors unpack why Jesus called His disciples into the middle of a lake when dry ground was so safe and comfortable.
00:03:11
Speaker
In a boat in the middle of a lake helps readers understand why the depth of our hurt enables us to experience deep hope, learn to conquer fear to experience the freedom God has for us, and discover how God uses chaos and not just the classroom to shape and work through us.
00:03:29
Speaker
Today, in your confusion about God's intentions, your disappointment over lost dreams, your disillusionment about prayer, God is offering hope.
Finding Hope in Christ
00:03:39
Speaker
Jesus is still Lord over the water, and while He is not moved by the waves, He is moved by you.
00:03:46
Speaker
So like I said, it's so fitting that that last line refers to the hope that we have in Christ because I would say that probably the thing that I am most excited about with this book is I just picture the woman or the young man or the older gentleman or the older woman sitting there in their room reading this book and I am praying that the Lord fills them with such hope
00:04:15
Speaker
in the midst of their storm. And I think that's the thing I'm most excited about is that this book offers hope to those that are hurting.
00:04:24
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I would just agree with that 100 percent. I mean, I just sorry, I'm just getting emotional thinking about when you're just reading that. And just hearing, you know, I just sort of, you know, as you're reading that, just it's it's easy for me to kind of go back in my mind to the last two and a half years and just what we walk through and then just the writing process, you know, and how at times like I didn't want to write the book like it was too it was too painful to go back and revisit.
00:04:53
Speaker
some of those events or experiences. And I just remember so many times sitting in my office, you know, when I was writing the book and I'd just be in tears, the door was shut and I was just praying nobody would come.
00:05:02
Speaker
knock on the floor because I was in no shape to answer it and so I think it's always scary to release a book because you just you really hope people enjoy it and this one I think is especially scary because there's just so many parts of it that you feel like are very personal and you know this is by far the most vulnerable book that we've written
00:05:25
Speaker
And like you, I think what kept me writing it, what kept us plowing ahead with this was that we really wanted to not just share our story, because again, we're not experts in suffering, but we wanted to offer the message of Jesus, the message of hope.
00:05:40
Speaker
And that's what this is about. This isn't about us selling books. I mean, this is about us pointing people to Jesus who gives hope like nobody else can. And so that's what I'm so excited about with the release of this book. We just, you know, there were so many times where I'd be out walking at night and thinking about the book, and I just was so overwhelmed at different points. Just with, you know, what I felt like was the Holy Spirit. I just felt so confident at different points writing this that God is gonna use this book in a powerful way.
00:06:07
Speaker
And I think there's just a lot of people that are in a boat in the middle of a lake and we are just praying and trusting that God is going to use this book to really speak into the depth of people's hurt so that they might experience a deeper hope
Uniqueness of Christian Hope
00:06:23
Speaker
in Christ crucified and resurrected and one day returning. Yes. Amen. And we don't want to waste what we've been through or what we're going through. And I think that probably you might feel that way too. You know, none of us want to waste our life.
00:06:38
Speaker
and even when the hard things come and it makes it really really hard to share that like Pat was saying I mean literally the scenes of just how that all played out in our personal lives when Pat was diagnosed and everything and inviting you into what that looked like in our home or in our own personal heart how we handled that
00:07:01
Speaker
All of that with our family everything that's really hard And it's definitely hard to revisit. It's traumatic enough to go through it, but then to revisit it It's it's really hard, but we're just praying like I said that God uses this For his good and for his glory and and that he reaches you wherever you are today with this message of hope So like I mentioned, you know
00:07:25
Speaker
We're going to talk about hope. And I know it can be so easy to despair. And it's interesting because the world doesn't offer us a hope that lasts, right? We know that there's something different. There's something unique about what the Christian has to offer. What we as Christ followers have to offer the world is different than what the world has to offer in regards to hope.
00:07:54
Speaker
And so we want to start there. We want to talk about, you know, how does Christian hope offer the world something unique? Yeah, I mean, I think you're right. I mean, there is just so much despair in the world. I mean, there always has been at different times, but it just seems like, you know, right now with everything that's going on with with, you know, with covid and we're we're in the midst of, you know, coming up on on election season and there's just lots of
00:08:22
Speaker
you know, weird stuff going on in the world. Lots of discouragement and despair for a variety of different reasons. It just, there's a darkness. And I think that's really what despair is. I mean, it's just really a loss of hope. It's giving up or giving in. I think when you walk through, you know, suffering or trials, when you find yourself in a boat in the middle of a lake, I mean, everybody, I think faces that despair at some point. You face discouragement and you might begin to doubt and yet,
00:08:49
Speaker
those seasons of doubt or wrestling with God, feeling disoriented, they do. They either lead to despair or they lead to greater devotion. And I think what we find and what we tell about in the story is that our suffering, our season of circumstances just allowed us to hope in a new way, in a deeper way. And what is so unique
00:09:10
Speaker
about Christian hope is that you know hope you know oftentimes we use that word is it means that we're just sort of you know it's wishful thinking right you know I hope things work out I hope my candidate gets elected I hope my marriage improves or I hope my son or daughter returns to the faith you know we use that word usually as a way of sort of hoping you know things turn out the way we want them to and yet hope
00:09:33
Speaker
at least from a Christian perspective, is this guarantee. This is what the future holds. Jesus really did die for us. He really did rise again from the grave. He really is reigning and ruling over all things. He really is King of kings and Lord of lords. And he is
00:09:49
Speaker
really going to one day return and restore and renew all things and wipe away every tear. I mean, that's the Christian hope that really, I think, informs how we walk through discouraging, despairing times here in the present. It's this guarantee about what is to come that we really do have a future because Christ has risen.
00:10:09
Speaker
Yeah, and I think there's a big, big difference between that wishful thinking, which I know probably everybody can identify with, you know, oh man, I hope this happens or I hope that happens or even when. I was really hoping for college football to happen this fall, just to sort of lighten the mood for a moment. Exactly. I needed that to happen. I thought you were going to say you were hoping for some hair plugs, because that's what you usually bring up. Sorry, I had to go there. If we sell a lot of books.
00:10:37
Speaker
But you know there's this wishful thinking and sometimes it's even a deep wishful thinking like for things that are serious and good things Yeah, good things, but I like you said there's this difference when it's like anchored in real truth you know and
00:10:52
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's... You're right. That's really good. I mean, I think we need to distinguish oftentimes between earthly hope and heavenly hope. And one really informs the other. I mean, I think one of the differences is that earthly hope is horizontal and heavenly hope is vertical. And what I mean by that is that we have these earthly hopes that sometimes are really good things, like you were already describing, hoping that our marriage improves or... I mean, there's so many different examples. And yet, heavenly hope is that vertical hope
00:11:22
Speaker
And our heavenly hope in Jesus crucified and resurrected that there really is a God who's with us and for us, that we really do have a future, is an unshakable hope. I mean, every other earthly hope is really fragile. And so whether it's hope in finances or health or a relationship, I mean, all of those earthly hopes that are horizontal, they might be good hopes, but they're really fragile where our heavenly hope is unshakable, the Scriptures say. I mean, we have this inheritance
00:11:52
Speaker
that can't spoil, that can't fade. Nobody can snatch that out of God's hands or out of our hands. And so it's that heavenly hope that really ought to infuse or envelop or inform our
Trusting in Christ 'Even If'
00:12:03
Speaker
earthly hope. I mean, it's our conviction about the future that enables us to live faithfully in the present.
00:12:09
Speaker
Yeah, and I think that earthly hope we find ourselves wishing for something and I said like it could be even something serious like you're wishing and hoping that your cancer gets put in remission, right? I mean we obviously that was we were praying and pleading with God but the difference then when we have a heavenly hope it goes from that earthly hope of wishful thinking and praying and
00:12:33
Speaker
to this heavenly hope that we can say even if and I know that's a phrase I can't remember what scripture that's from but that is a phrase that you hear often and it's based out of the Bible and it's even if God you know even if
00:12:51
Speaker
this doesn't happen or even if this does happen, no matter what the outcome is, I'm going to praise you anyways. And I think when I think about earthly hope and heavenly hope that ties those things together for me because earthly hope, like I said, we were praying that God would put the cancer in remission and I don't know what that is for you. Maybe you're praying that God would come through financially
00:13:15
Speaker
that God would bring your husband back, that God would come into your parenting where you feel inadequate and change things, whatever it is, that's the place that we say, God, please, but even if that's where the heavenly hope comes in. Because we know that no matter what the outcome is, no matter what happens, we can hope in Christ.
00:13:39
Speaker
Yeah, that's so good, and you're exactly right. I don't know whether this is the passage of Scripture that you're referring to or thinking of, but Habakkuk chapter 3, which is a book that we don't typically read. I don't know why people aren't reading out of Habakkuk, and I wasn't reading out of Habakkuk when I came across this passage. I saw somebody else quote it and made me go back and read the
00:13:59
Speaker
The whole book but at the very end of Habakkuk, which is just a short book in the Old Testament You know the writer says it says this He says though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines Though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food though There are no sheep in the pens and no cattle in the stalls yet. I will rejoice in the Lord I will be joyful in God my Savior The sovereign Lord is my strength. I just love that. I mean that's what you're talking about that
00:14:29
Speaker
That even if the things don't go the way we are hoping or wishing we're still gonna be okay because we belong to God we came from him and we'll return to him and we belong by faith and Jesus to his kingdom and Even if things don't go the way that we're hoping and praying even if the worst case scenario happens We're still going to be
00:14:50
Speaker
okay because we belong to God and there's nothing that can separate us from His love. And we can trust Him and we have a heavenly hope and that is the difference. That's the difference in Christian hope. That's what makes it unique because like we said the wishful thinking, the earthly hope is one thing, the heavenly hope is a completely different thing.
Living Hope Through Scripture
00:15:11
Speaker
So
00:15:12
Speaker
We want to talk about a few of our different passages of Scripture that are related to hope that we feel like are a good place to come back to. I want to start with 1 Peter 1, 3-5. If you have a pen or notes on your phone or something, put these in there so you can come back to these places.
00:15:34
Speaker
So 1 Peter 1 3 through 5 says, praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
00:16:03
Speaker
I love that. I remember reading that passage multiple times. I pull it up on my phone as we're sitting in the doctor's office. And that was kind of, for me, one of the go-to passages early on where we'd be over at the Cancer Center waiting to see my specialist. And I would pull up the Bible on my YouVersion app. And that verse in particular,
00:16:24
Speaker
was one I just kept coming back to. And so I just love that. I mean, here's Peter, who's now a much older man writing to Christians that were facing all sorts of trials and struggles and suffering. And Peter is an older man, reminds them of the hope that they have in Christ and that
00:16:40
Speaker
hope that they have is something that Jesus has given them that we by faith been born into this living hope he says you know through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and then there's this inheritance you know there's something I love that picture of heaven as an inheritance for us that they will never perish or spoil or fade I mean it's a secure inheritance it's a secure reward for us
00:17:04
Speaker
as we come to faith in Jesus and continue to be faithful to Him. And again, that is what is distinctly Christian about our hope is that it's a guarantee because of what Jesus has accomplished for us. I mean, think about Peter. He was one of those first followers of Jesus and he saw the miracles of Jesus. He
00:17:22
Speaker
saw Jesus crucified and he saw him resurrected. And this was a confident hope that Peter had, a deep conviction. It was a guarantee for him. He'd seen the risen Jesus and he wanted to remind those early Christians in their suffering that, hey, this isn't wishful thinking. Whatever you face, remember that in the end you have a future.
00:17:41
Speaker
And I love that when you're talking about Peter, I'm thinking about how many struggles he had in life, and how many times he denied Jesus, and he even turned his back on him. And yet we see here that he came to this place of saying, listen, there is no other place to find real living hope.
00:18:04
Speaker
I love the part that says that who through faith are shielded by God's power. I love that like you just that picture of that because of our faith God uses our faith to shield us and to me I think of comfort and I think of protection when I when I hear that that's so so good. So that's first Peter 1 3 through 5 if you want to write that down.
00:18:29
Speaker
Next is Romans 8 18. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
00:18:39
Speaker
Yeah, I remember reading that again, sort of in those first five months of treatment and writing that verse in particular in my journal and just keep coming, I would keep coming back to that is as difficult as those treatments were at different times. We're going through the stem cell transplants. I just would keep telling myself nothing that I'm experiencing now comes close to comparing to what God has for me. I love that.
00:19:07
Speaker
to remind ourselves, you know, here's an example. This is, you know, this is maybe a terrible illustration, but it's, and I remember when I was a kid, when I was like in sixth or seventh grade, me and several other of my classmates went to the Boundary Waters canoeing area in Northern Minnesota, Canada. So if we have any listeners from that area, from Northern Minnesota in Canada, let us know. But we would go camping in the Boundary Waters. We did that for two summers.
00:19:36
Speaker
And I remember, you know, getting in there, we would have to portage, which means you have to like pick up your canoe and carry it on your shoulders and you'd have a big pack. And like as a sixth grade boy, I was about to say, I was trying to pick you in sixth grade carrying a canoe on your shoulder. Sorry. I don't like where this is going. And this is anyways, I had no problem with that. But I remember carrying that.
00:19:57
Speaker
And you would have to sometimes portage for a half a mile or sometimes longer. And I remember on one particular trek, one of the teachers that was guiding the trip, he had told us that when we got to the campsite, you were gonna build a fire and we were gonna fish and we're gonna have fresh fish on the, there was like this sense of like, hey, I know what you're walking through right now is really difficult, but it's gonna be worth it. Because when we get there, we're gonna experience this together. And I know that's such a cheap illustration,
00:20:25
Speaker
But at least in some ways, as a reminder of when we're suffering, it's like we just need to continue reminding ourselves, hey, what we're going through does not compare to what is ahead of us, what's in store for us, what God is waiting to give us someday. And so I just love that verse. I consider that our present sufferings, what we're enduring right now, what is so painful right now, the aching of our hearts and the tears and the illness, whatever it is, it's not worth comparing
00:20:55
Speaker
with the glory that will be revealed in us. There's a quote that I read recently by a gentleman who lived in the 1800s and he used the phrase, he said, paradise pays for it all. And I just love that. And what he meant by that is that heaven will pay for all of the hurt that you are encountering right now. It'll be worth it. Paradise pays for it all.
00:21:20
Speaker
And I think that's what Paul's talking about in Romans 8, 18. Just a reminder that what we're going through right now will not compare in any way to God's glory and the goodness and just what he has in store for us one day. I love that. And I really love that illustration. I know it was, you know. It's a B plus. No, it was good.
00:21:40
Speaker
But you know what? I should have thought about that one before we started this. What I was thinking when you were sharing that story is how really I was thinking of you'd make this trek with this canoe and your backpack and it's really hard and you're walking a mile. I mean that's far. I had a lot of outfits too. I'm a heavy packer guy.
00:22:01
Speaker
So you had a really heavy backpack. I had a heavy backpack and accessories. But what I was, OK, honey, I'm trying to be serious here. What I was picturing was how much like life that is. Like, we're on this journey. And we keep walking. And we have to keep going. And we keep going. I mean, that's what you're doing every step of the way. And it can be really, really tough. How easy is it to quit? Yes. And we want to give up.
00:22:27
Speaker
But yet there was this great reward, and we have a great reward at the end. I love that. I think that that's one of the challenges that we all face. And, you know, as Christians, that we don't always believe in heaven. I think that's the reality is that we, you know, living in the time that we're living in, and I know this isn't true for everybody, but like we have it really good. And in many ways we have heaven on earth. And so I think it's really challenging sometimes
00:22:55
Speaker
because of just the way that God has blessed us in this country, this time to long for heaven and to look forward to it and to really believe in it as a reality. And so I think sometimes our lack of faith in what God has said about the future can be an obstacle for us. And so I think as we go through tough times, that's one of the ways God births, I think that new and deeper hope in us is that that becomes more real to us. We begin to long for heaven,
00:23:24
Speaker
I think one of the things about suffering and trials is it really does purify you from your love of this world and it makes you homesick for the world to come. Yeah, and I think in the walking that is really, really hard, we can either tend to just want to give up or we can actually just be drawn so much closer to Christ because there's no other choice that we have.
00:23:47
Speaker
suffering and and I feel like that was our story I mean if it was like I couldn't find enough scriptures to turn to I mean I was searching for hope in God's Word over and over and over again through that time that was literally the only thing that would bring me hope and would bring me peace so that was Romans 8 18 and you'll want to make sure you make a note of that so as we close up
Encouragement and New Beginnings
00:24:13
Speaker
We just want to share a couple of things that we hope will be an encouragement to you if you are in the middle of suffering right now, or just maybe life feels really, really hard. We want to encourage you with a couple of things. First of all, we want just to remind you that you have a future.
00:24:34
Speaker
Yeah, I think for me, when we look back in those early days, you and I are such dreamers. We're always thinking about the future and thinking about next projects or whatever it is. And it was really difficult. I think when suffering hits, it's really difficult to think about tomorrow or next month or next year or 10 years from now.
00:24:53
Speaker
And I remember at some point before my stem cell transplant, God just saying, you know what, no matter what happens, no matter whether this cancer goes into remission for the next 30 years or the next 10 years, or whether it comes back in a year, you have a future. That's the message of the gospel. That's the good news.
00:25:12
Speaker
is that we all have a future. And I think that's true too in different areas of our life where somebody maybe has experienced a painful marriage that's fallen apart or maybe they've lost a child or a loved one. And I think that what hope offers us is a new beginning. And so I know we're talking on one hand about heavenly hope, about
00:25:36
Speaker
being with God someday, but I think God offers us new beginnings and new hopes here and now. And oftentimes we go through something tragic or difficult, and out of that God birthed something new for us, a new season, maybe a new ministry, a new relationship, a new dream for us. And so it's out of the ashes there, sometimes of our pain and our suffering.
00:25:59
Speaker
that emerges something new and beautiful that God lays on our hearts. I would just say to those that are listening that are maybe going through something difficult or have gone through something difficult, like God has a future for you. He doesn't want to waste your pain. And so God wants to bring something new out of what you've been through. He offers you hope, a new beginning. You have a future because of what God has done for you and he wants to bring new things
00:26:26
Speaker
out of the hurt that you've experienced. Yeah, I remember you saying, I remember when you wouldn't stop talking about how God had just given you that realization, because I think it's so easy to feel hopeless. To again fall into discouragement and despair.
00:26:47
Speaker
So you have a future, that's the first thing we would tell you. And then the second thing that we would want to encourage you with and we want to encourage you with if you are in the middle of something really hard right now is that your current reality is not your final reality.
00:27:03
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's such a good reminder. I think oftentimes, you know, when we're going through something difficult, we just can can fall into believing this is the way it's always going to be. I'm always going to feel this way. These are the way things are going to be for the next year, the next two years. This is going to be my my these are going to be my circumstances from here on out. And so I think it's such a reminder that what we're going through now does not mean that's what we'll be going through a year from now or five years from now. And so your current reality
00:27:33
Speaker
is not your final reality. And so I think that can be just such a great source of encouragement when we're going through a difficult time that this hurt and this pain doesn't have to define you, that God has something new. He has something better for you down the road. And I think what the enemy would love to do is to keep us again in discouragement, despair,
00:27:53
Speaker
thinking this is the way things are always going to be. And I think also the hope in that statement, your current reality is not your final reality, goes as far as heaven. No matter if our suffering ends in death even, our final reality is heaven and ultimate hope in heaven with him.
00:28:16
Speaker
Yeah, and I think you see that in the life of Jesus, obviously most perfectly, most beautifully, that he suffered before he entered into his glory. And all of us are called to follow in his footsteps in different ways, and we too will suffer before we enter into that glory. And so we're really following in the footsteps of the one who suffered for us, but also has been raised to new life for us.
00:28:41
Speaker
I love that. And I think that just, you know, through this conversation, throughout this conversation, it is so evident that our Christian hope is unique and it does have something to offer us that the world can never, ever, ever give. And I am so, so grateful for that. So, you know, I'm thinking about, again, the person listening who is in the middle of something really hard.
00:29:06
Speaker
And, you know, we wrote this book because we we've been there and we are there still. I mean, this isn't something that ends, you know, the day after it happens or something. And so I would love to close this episode with with prayer. And honey, would you pray for the person listening who is who's listening? And they're like, yeah, that's great. But my it feels like
00:29:36
Speaker
I'm in hell right now. And yes, I would love to do that. And so I will definitely pray you don't ever have to apologize to me for for crying. I know. And I will pray for those that are in that place where it is so difficult. It's so challenging. They feel disoriented that God would just meet them in that in that place because we know. And I mean, I'm getting emotional because we know what it's like to feel like you're in the hardest place you've ever been.
00:30:07
Speaker
Let's pray. Father, we just come before you today and we love you. Thank you for just all that you've done for us. Thank you that you are. You're not like a father, you are a father. And we just thank you for your love for us. Thank you that you never give up on us. Thank you that you are the one that pursued us and you've given us your son, Jesus. And he died a death that we deserve. He suffered for us.
00:30:32
Speaker
He entered into our pain and into our suffering, and he took on the limitations of humanity so that he might save us and restore us into a right relationship with you. And so we just thank you for the gift of your son, that he died for us. He rose again.
00:30:48
Speaker
that the grave really is empty and that we really do have a future. And so we just thank you that by our faith in Jesus, you forgive us, you wash us clean, you give us new hope right here and right now, but you give us the hope of everlasting life. You give us the hope of being with you someday. And so God, we just pray for those listeners that are in the midst of something really, really difficult right now that you would meet them
00:31:10
Speaker
in that place. Meet them in their darkness, meet them in their chaos, and remind them that you are present with them, that you are for them. And God, would you just restore them, give them joy and peace, help them to be aware of your presence in just a tangible way today, and renew the hope that is only theirs in Christ. And so I just pray that you would fill those that are hurting today with a deep hope. And so we just love you, we trust you, and we pray all of that in Jesus' good and powerful name. Amen.
00:31:40
Speaker
Amen. Thank you, honey. Well, this has once again been such a good conversation. And we just want to thank you for celebrating our book launch with us. We are so, so grateful for your support. If you haven't ordered your copy yet, or maybe you just grabbed your copy today, our publisher has graciously extended the pre-order bonuses for this week only, which include the first three chapters to start reading right away before your book arrives.
00:32:07
Speaker
and an incredible scripture memorization guide we put together to help you through anything life throws your way. You can grab your copy of In a Boat in the Middle of a Lake wherever books are sold. So Amazon, Barnes and Noble, christianbook.com, etc. Once you place your order, just make sure you go to inaboatbook.com to get the first three chapters in that scripture memorization guide.
00:32:30
Speaker
Now we pray for those of you who are reading our book that God would meet you there in that space and your deepest hurts and your darkest struggles that he would show you his hope.
00:32:44
Speaker
Wow, what a great conversation today and as you know, if you have been joining us every week, each week we walk away with a key idea. It's the main takeaway summing up what we've talked about. So today's key idea is, our heavenly hope must infuse our earthly hope.
00:33:02
Speaker
We will also be sure to put that key idea in the show notes as well as anything else we referenced at rootlikefaith.com forward slash podcast. You can also follow us on Instagram and we'd love it if you would, at Patrick W. Schwank and at Ruth Schwank or on Facebook. And as if we don't say it enough already, we are thrilled you are joining us and we welcome you into our family here at Root Like Faith.
00:33:28
Speaker
If you enjoyed the show today, would you be so kind to leave us a review or rating? That is a tremendous help to us as we spread the word about root-like faith and we are so grateful for your help.