In my past blog, seeing the present through the past, I spoke to the need of seeing the devastating loss of life that occurred due to the Tsunami through an active trust in the plan of God. We discussed how a Christian should view/discern/discuss the events of the day with a balanced, Biblical worldview. To this end may I suggest a prayer that Paul offered those living in Ephesus as a grid for us to exercise a hope in the midst of tragedy. In Ephesians 1:18-21, Paul says,

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and his incomparable great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

When Paul speaks about the eyes of your heart he is referring to the powerplant of our thinking process. As Christians study God’s Word we become enlightened through the Holy Spirit to the hope that He has called us to – to an inheritance for those who believe (future) and that hope produces power to live by in the present. Paul then emphasizes what this power is like when he uses the words power (“dunamis”) and strength (“kratos”) in tandum to describe the picture of how God’s power was seen in Christ at His resurrection. The resurrection power of Christ is a power that strengthens us today to have hope in the future regardless of the tragedies we may see or experience.

In other words, God enlightens us through His Word, the Word enlightens our hearts by working of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, using the eternal Word of God, produces hope, this hope is rooted in the power of God which strengthens us when we are weak, a power of God that was exemplified in the resurrection of Christ, which produces a real hope that enables us to face life in the present being assured that we have a future, glorious inheritance with all those who trust in Him.