A Holy Response

     I personally know it all to well- the weight of the world's current situation weighing on our shoulders. The pandemic is spreading faster than we can catch our breath. Fear and concern for those we love staring us blatantly in the face as the number of cases rise. A tiny microscopic organism keeping us away from church, work, vacations, and seeing those we love. Many are trying to find answers in a time such as this- "why GOD?". There are so many conspiracy theories looking to the probability of prophetic scripture- "Is this what it was pointing to?". Maybe. Maybe not. Here is what I do know- the truth must prevail, and the church must respond to these times in it. Here are some truths I want to focus on in times such as these: 1) GOD is holy, 2) GOD is merciful, and 3) Our response should be in a holy fear.
 
 GOD is holy. GOD has the full right to do whatever HE so pleases. The world is wicked and evil, and HE is just to punish if HE pleases. We have strayed from godly obedience. We have denied our purpose in our GOD ordained design. We have defied HIM. We have sinned greatly against the ONE WHO created us to glorify HIM. HE is pure, righteous, good, just, and holy. HE is above all and in all. HE is omniscient, enthroned and the CREATOR of all things. We have ALL sinned and fallen short of the glory of GOD. We stand no chance before HIS holy throne on our own accord. There is condemnation for those who do not trust in HIM. There is a rightful eternal separation from HIM for those who do not turn from their wicked ways. When GOD flooded the earth, in the time of Noah and the ark, HE was just to obliterate wicked mankind. When GOD passed over Egypt, at the time of Passover, GOD was just to obliterate wicked mankind. GOD is holy and mankind is wicked and evil.

     GOD is merciful. I want the weight of the last paragraph to sink in for a minute before we dig into this truth. The holiness of GOD emphasizes HIS mercy. Mercy is GOD denying to give us what we rightfully deserve. We deserve condemnation, but HE withholds it from us. When GOD flooded the earth HE also instructed Noah to build an ark and to bring in his family and 2 of every kind of animal. GOD had mercy on Noah and HIS creation. When GOD passed over Egypt HE had mercy on HIS people instructing them to put lamb's blood over their doorpost. When GOD saw a wicked and evil world HE sent HIS BELOVED SON to take the place of sinful mankind at Calvary, and POURED HIS wrath upon HIM. GOD is indeed merciful in the face of an absolutely wicked and undeserving world.

     Our response should be in a holy fear. Noah built the ark on dry land. Why on earth build a giant boat when the earth was dry? Noah believed and trusted GOD and that HE would do as HE said HE would even if it seemed crazy. This is holy fear. Moses instructed the people to spread the lamb's blood that they may be spared and they did so. This is holy fear- to know GOD has the right for vengeance. We must live a life in the pursuit of holiness. We must seek GOD in these wicked times. We must fall into repentance asking for GOD's mercy in our own lives and in the life of our world. We must surrender what we desire exchanging them for the desire to know GOD more. We must kneel with our faces on the floor before a holy GOD asking HIM to guide us through these times. We must pray for and love one another in the midst of a quarantine striving for a holy unity as GOD has desired and intended for mankind.


     This is my prayer in these times:

ABBA FATHER, 

YOU are high and holy. YOU are above all and in all. YOU are enthroned and sovereign. YOU are just and right in all that YOU do. FATHER, we are a wicked nation, undeserving of YOUR mercy. We have fallen away from our created purpose and sought after lesser gods. Thank YOU FATHER for sending YOUR SON to take our place at the cross. FATHER, I ask that YOU have mercy on YOUR people. Turn YOUR face from YOUR anger. Be gracious to us though we are undeserving. Lead and guide us to be lights in the midst of this dark world for the advancement of YOUR kingdom. FATHER, I plead before YOUR holy throne that YOU would bring a greater number of people to YOURSELF. FATHER, teach us how to love one another well during these times. FATHER, use my ransomed life in any way YOU choose. 

In YOUR holy and precious name. 

Amen

Much love, Frances Hope

For the Love of Hurting Hearts

    I've pondered quite a bit lately on an anonymous prayer request expressing a genuine struggle with personal sin. Honestly this person's transparency in their struggles convicts my heart and makes me want to commend them. So often I have observed that people are so quick to respond to the practical service of others, but so slow to ask "How's your heart?". Don't get me wrong sometimes we need practical help, but more often we need prayer to endure this broken world as broken beings. As someone who personally struggles with depression I feel a greater sense of mercy for hurting hearts. What if we were as intentional to fill hearts as we were bellies? What if we were less concerned about cultural and generational differences and focused more on the common goal of our pursuit of CHRIST? What if we were more faithful to fight for unity rather than dwell on diversity? ESPECIALLY in the church body! This world is broken and we are broken people. The realization of depravity should lead us to be more intentional to care for and pray for one another. This is my prayer and my plea- that in all circumstances the gospel would prevail. When you are striving to love someone that is hard to love with the love of CHRIST- keep striving calling to mind the love the HOLY GOD has towards you. When you know a brother or sister is struggling help them with their physical need AND ask them how you can pray for their heart, pouring truth into them. If you are someone who is suffering be honest and transparent choosing wisely who you seek council from. Brother, sister, and friend- I challenge and I plead with you to care for one another with a gospel saturated love. In a world full of division fight for unity, caring for the hearts of those around you. Serve boldly, love deeply, and press forward running your race.

     Much Love, Frances Hope

Dear Twenties,

Dear twenties,
     I have a love hate relationship with you. Why? I love you, because your made up of a lot of self discovery. I hate you.... because your made up of a lot of self discovery. You consume so much trial and error, and so many life lessons. The world tells you where you ought to be in life, and you begin to deeply realize you have a long way to go before "figuring it all out". I fall, I rise, and I fall again. The good news is I'm over half way through these years.... the bad news I'm starting to realize ALL of life will be like this. BUT one day I'll look back and...maybe I'll miss you? Or maybe not. Only time will tell. Dear twenties, if I didn't have JESUS I don't know how I could handle these years.

     There are so many bible verses that are thrown our way in our twenties- Jeremiah 29:11 seems to meet the top of that list. "I don't know what to do next"- Jeremiah 29:11. "I don't know what degree I should go for?" -Jeremiah 29:11. "I'm having a mid-twenties crisis!"-Jeremiah 29:11. So you begin to think "if only I preached Jeremiah 29:11 over myself better and believed hard enough then maybe things would be better!" Well, dear friend, I understand that thought and the train of thoughts that follow it. I can't tell you I've been there, but I can tell you I am there. So fellow twenty something year old I have something that will ACTUALLY help you (LORD willing). Try reading Jeremiah 29: 1-23 and then tell me how you feel. Context is essential. Let's zoom in on Jeremiah 29: 4-14. We see that this is a letter written to exiles and it doesn't merely say "believe harder"- it a letter giving instruction. Do you need to believe that the LORD holds your future? Absolutely! But dear friend, you wont figure it out sitting on your bum. The first plan of action is to take action and JUST DO SOMETHING (Which by the way is a great read by Kevin DeYoung). The people were instructed to work (and work hard) to build homes and to seek the welfare of the city. They were instructed to build a life here on earth (NOT a kingdom there is a difference!). Secondly (yet foremost) they were told to seek the LORD and to pray to HIM. Then they are promised that they would find HIM when they seek HIM with their whole heart. GOD gives both saving grace and common grace, and HE gives grace to receive grace. Rest in that.

     SO dear fellow twenty something year old, don't lose hope. When your thirties come.... read Jeremiah 29 again and meditate on the same truths as you do now. HIS word is forever. Overwhelmed? I feel you! Just breathe. Don't know what to do? More than half the time, me either! Seek wise counsel. Wandering what to do next? ME TO! My advice? Just do something....and read Kevin DeYoung's book. Rest, meditate, and live out Jeremiah 29- act, build, seek, pray, serve, and let the LORD lead you.

Sincerely, a fellow twenty something year old. 

Much love, Frances Hope

When Discipline Meets Desire

     My alarm goes off every weekday morning at 5 AM to remind me to get up and get in the word before I get ready to head to work. For the past year and some odd months I have consistently stuck to my bible reading plan. The discipline is all there- desire on the other hand is the hard part. Doubt, distraction, and depression can hinder the longing to come to GOD's word. What if I have the desire to desire HIS word- does that count for anything? Discipline will bring me to the word, but when habit hits I often end up with the same empty feeling prior to coming to HIS word. Surely, I'm not alone in this. Have you ever wandered what it would be like when discipline met desire? 

     The past couple months have consisted of walking through and enduring a dark valley. There has been much heartache, there has been grief and loss, and there has been a deepening realization of the fall of man. Feeling the weight of your own sin is hard enough, and when you add the grief that comes from the sin of those around you- there. just. aren't. words. This world is in a deep need for CHRIST, and I have felt the weight of that lately. Discipline reminds me that I need to stop in that moment and pray. Desire is what keeps me coming back to pray again. 

    Depression, doubt, and distraction can taint our view of what desire is- at least I can say that statement is true for myself. I want desire to be a feeling of nearness and intimacy with my SAVIOR. Then I remind myself of this truth: "We walk by faith". Faith is not a feeling. We are not saved by our feelings. ALL praise be to GOD we are not saved by our feelings! We are saved by grace through faith. That's when discipline meets desire, and the realization that they go hand in hand comes in. When discipline meets desire they together continuously bring us back to HIS word and to prayer. I'm not saying I have it all figured out now- I don't by any means. I cannot stand before you today and tell you I have the perfect explanation of discipline and desire. This is what I do know surrendering, repentance, and declaring the need for CHRIST has been one of the sweetest gifts to me in this season of my life. When I have felt on overwhelming sense of loss and loneliness I have poured out my heart to GOD! I have pleaded that HE draw near to me giving me a deepening desire for HIM- and HE has been faithful. Fellow Christian, if you’re suffering or down cast with and overwhelming sense of emptiness know that you are not alone. Keep praying, giving thanks in ALL circumstances, because we serve a GOD who will never forsake.  

Much Love, Frances Hope

This Faith I Believe

     I can count on my own two hands the things that I am passionate about- truly passionate about. I'm passionate about the beauty and value found in the tiny details of nature. I'm passionate about a good story with a good moral to it. I'm passionate about what a true and genuine relationship should look like. I'm passionate about writing. I'm passionate about peanut butter, plants, and my people group. However, despite the things I find myself passionate about there is only one thing that truly drives me- that is this faith I believe. This faith that has been granted to me not of my own accord has driven me to say goodbye to comfort and community on more than one occasion. I said goodbye to the comfort of a job I was good at and the community that came with it. I said goodbye to the comfort of AC at a church with a community I loved for my current "farm church". The thing is that leaving my previous job and church opened the door for more ministry and the opportunity to build new community. I've learned that the mission field is a WHOLE lot bigger than I could ever imagined. There have been tears, triumphs, fears, failures, and fruition in this season of my life. I wouldn't change a single moment for anything this world can offer. My current job gives me the opportunity to love broken people every single day. For those of you who don't yet know this about me I work full time in respite care for individuals with special needs- mainly with toddlers with special needs. It can be one of the hardest, yet most rewarding jobs I have ever encountered. I see the gospel of how GOD loves ALL the time. Patience is not something I see as a mere want or suggestion- I NEED it, and thankfully my GOD is a GOD who provides.
     So why bring all this up to mention my faith? Because of my faith I'm joyfully living the life I live. I'm not making bank working in respite at a non-profit organization. I don't have a handful friends in this season of my life- if anything I've lost many. I don't end every day on a high note. This season has been HARD, but it has been one of the most rewarding seasons of growth for me. This faith I believe has called me to this chapter of life and is bringing me through it. This faith I believe is the drive behind what I do and why I do it. This faith I believe makes me want to not merely believe, but follow CHRIST. This faith I believe brings me to an ongoing season that will never end...
     If you want to know more you will just have to stay tuned.
                                                 Much love, Frances Hope

At an End.

     I can hardly believe it, 2018 is coming to an end. As I look back on this year I can't help but to thank GOD for the MANY ways HE has been faithful to me. So much has happened over this past year, and my heart is filled with gratitude knowing HE took every step with me. I donated my long blonde hair, moved into my own apartment, helped plant a church, moved up at work, and have rejoiced in the restoration of a healthier relationship with my parents. This year is definitely one for the books. In January I couldn't have even begun to imagine the ways that GOD would grow me over this past year. There were tears, laughter, fights, apologies, losses, victories and GOD was faithfully a part of each of them. I can't help but to smile as my heart fills with peace and a bittersweet goodbye over these last few hours. It's been good. It's been hard. Oh, that I have grown. Oh, that I have grown! Just like the rest of the world that sets there New Years resolution(s) -I have my own. We all have a desire for something more, something better, a fresh start- It's engraved in us. We all long for it. We seek it. We strive for it. We suffer because of it. We rejoice. We weep. We hope. Thanks be to GOD that if we are HIS, we are a NEW creation, and HIS mercies are new EVERY morning- not just on January 1st. Therefore we march forward, running the race set before us, standing against the flaming arrows of the evil one. We take action, resting in the promise that GOD is mighty to save. Unearned, undeserved, freely given sweet grace offered to those who put there trust in HIM. It doesn't get any better than this. Sure, I have my resolutions just like everybody else- but they cannot compare to THIS. There is only ONE thing I desire more, to want to want more- CHRIST JESUS HIMSELF. In the end my hopeful expectation is that on December 31, 2019 I will look more like CHRIST than I did on December 31, 2018.
     My final advice to you brothers and sisters- stand steadfast resting in HIS steadfast love, remembering HIS mercies are new EVERY morning!
                                                      Much love, Frances Hope

The Honest Truth

     I'm just going to be real with you- I don't have it all figured out. Shocker! Right? I hope not. SO often of the time I am so tempted to only let my wisdom show, and to "put my best face forward". I wouldn't dare tell you that the other day I sat on the floor  in my closet alone and confessed to CHRIST all the things I hate about myself. I wouldn't dare tell you that there is a constant battle going off in my mind about my worth and my unworthiness. Why on earth would I dare tell you that and risk the chance that maybe you like me even a little bit? Maybe. Why would I compromise any opportunity of being perfectly awesome? Why? Here's why, and it may come as a surprise to you (all sarcasm intended), I'm not. There was only ONE perfectly awesome man to walk this earth. HIS name is JESUS. There was once a time early in my walk with CHRIST that I eagerly looked forward to the day I would have it all figured out- flash forward 9 years and...nope still haven't got there. YET I've realized one very profound thing- I'm not meant to. All those day dreams about growing in wisdom and figuring it all out have been put into reverse. The more that I grow, the more I realize how much I don't have it all together and I really don't have a clue what I'm doing. Not a single thing. Throw back to your old Sunday school bible verse "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding...", and oh wait! I'm not meant to understand everything about everything?! More so not lean on what I do understand? Uh, yeah. Why? If I understood everything about everything I wouldn't trust in the ONE who is omniscient. Suddenly, I understand what truly matters. Guess what?! I don't get it. I do not understand. I'm foolish, and I don't have it all figured out. Does my point seem redundant by now? Good. Just trying to dig the nail into the ground (or whatever the saying is- I don't know, I haven't figured it out yet).
     By now your either wandering one of two things: 1.) What on earth was she doing in her closet?! or 2.) your still trying to wrap your head around my last paragraph. Let me know when you've figured it out, because that would make one of us. Either way, I'm moving forward. Something did come from my time alone in my closet- GOD faithfully put Psalm 139:14 on the forefront of my mind. "I praise YOU, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are YOUR works; my soul knows it very well." I love that the NASB version says "I will give thanks to YOU". I've read this verse about a kazillion times in my life, I've prayed it over little ones, spoken "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" over and over again- and have overlooked the part that says "I will give thanks". Honestly, I don't always believe that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. If were all honest we've all been there. So I paused in that heart broken moment of my life and turned all that self-hatred into a prayer of thanks. "Thank you GOD for my oily, acne prone complexion. Thank you for my old soul self that struggles to relate with my current generation. Thank you for how tall YOU have made me. Thank YOU for your knowledge of all my fears, insecurities, and areas of doubt. Thank YOU that YOU love me past my wicked, ugly, sin-tainted heart. Thank YOU for making me just as YOU have, including the parts of me I don't necessarily like about myself. ABBA, I ask that you help my unbelief and help me see me as YOU see me. To know in my soul that I am a wonderful creation. An image bearer. A part of YOUR crowning creation."  That prayer took a lot out of me. To humble myself so low in confession and gratitude. It's hard to be real, to be honest, and transparent with yourself, others and with GOD. It strips us of our pride. It is good to give thanks to a holy GOD who is our CREATOR over our design- because the focus can no longer be on us- it MUST be on HIM who is worthy.
     So here is my challenge for you today  in whatever stage of life you are in give thanks to GOD surrendering your design in gratitude to HIM who created, and fashioned you in intricate detail. If you have children teach them these same things. Whenever you start to feel the temptation pull towards self-hatred give thanks to GOD who created you- not in a place of pride, but of great humility and surrender. Have grace for yourself and know that you are not alone in this. If you never meet another soul in your life who is real, and honest about their imperfections- know that I, Frances Hope Allen, can only preach what I must daily practice. More than anything we must call to mind that we have a GREAT, HIGH PRIEST in JESUS CHRIST who SYMPATHIZES with our weaknesses and without sin. We don't have to be perfect or have it all figured out- we must simply trust HIM who does and give thanks to the way HE has created us.
                                                            Much Love, Frances Hope