Creative Worship: Save Your Fork

Romans 8:18

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing

with the glory that is going to be reveled to us. "

Romans 8:25

"Now if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience."

HOPE

It's a powerful word isn't it?! Today, the human race seems to be running on nothing but Faith and Hope at the moment. When you feel like you have lost everything, there's nothing else left, you still have Hope. God has hardwired us to hope. We were given this hope when we were saved. (Romans 8:24)

There are some people that seem to think if you're a Christian, and you live like a Christian, pray, do good for others, that life should always be easy for you. But that couldn't be further from the truth. God promised us that life would not be easy and that we would have trouble sometimes.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

When times are great and living is easy, we don't have to hope for as much. But goodness, when times are hard and hope is all you have, you lean into it as hard as you can. God gives us so much hope! We know that he works everything out for our good, sometimes we just need to be patient, pray and wait. Romans 8:18 reminds us that what we may be suffering through now will be nothing in comparison to the glory that God will reveal to us later!! Wow! We can't even wrap our heads around what is waiting for us after this life. But till them, he can wait patiently and hope for the things he has promised us!

Our pastor shared a story recently that I've heard a couple times before and it was just so powerful I knew I wanted to document the thought in my bible. Here is the story for you below:

KEEP YOUR FORK

A woman was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given three months to live. She asked her pastor to come to her home to discuss her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral, and what scriptures to read, and which outfit she wanted to be buried in.

Then she said, "One more thing. I want to be buried with a fork in my hand."

The pastor was surprised. The woman explained, "In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, `Keep your fork.' It was my favorite time, because I knew something better was coming, like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie -- something wonderful. So, I want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and wonder, 'What's with the fork?' Then, I want you to tell them, `Keep your fork, because the best is yet to come."'

The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he bid the woman goodbye. He realized that she had a better grasp of heaven than he did, and knew something better was coming.

At the funeral, when people asked him why she was holding a fork, the pastor told them of the conversation he'd had with the woman before she died. He said he could not stop thinking about the fork, and knew they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it, either. He was right.

Keep your fork. The best is yet to come.