Where's my ladder?

Life has been kinda crazy the past few months, and Chelsea and I have faced situations and decisions that we've never faced before. There have been times when things felt hopeless. I'm always amazed at how God speaks to me in times such as these. I recently watched one of Andy Stanley's messages called "Hope". He said that hope is like a ladder in that we lean it against something we think will support our dreams and aspirations. At birth, we subconsciously lean that ladder against our parents. We depend on them to take care of us. As we grow older, we move the ladder of hope over to our own ability to take care of ourselves. For some of us that means we lean our ladder on talent, looks, popularity, wealth, a relationship, a career.....whatever we think will sustain us and hold us up. If you're a Christian, you involve God by begging Him not to let your ladder fall.

Usually the only time that I think about hope is when I'm feeling hopeless, helpless, or in despair. It's at these times that I realize that the wall I placed my ladder against wasn't as secure as I thought it was. When my ladder falls down, I feel hopeless. This simple illustration really opened up my eyes and forced me to ask the question "Where is my ladder?" The saracasm in me wants to shout back "It's hanging up in the garage!" But what is it that I have placed my hope in to hold me up? Is it my job? my family? an ideal situation? I've realized that I've felt hopeless because I placed my ladder against a wall that is destined to crumble. Paul says in Romans 8:21 that creation is in "bondage to decay." There is nothing in this world that is secure enough to hold me up (and that's not because I'm fat). If I want to put my hope in something secure, I need to move my ladder. I love what Psalm 33:22 says "May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you." Andy Stanley put it this way "May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we lean our ladder against you." I can find hope in a world that is hopelessly broken.