Pivotal Moments of Faith and Hope

Pivotal Moments                                Return to Main Menu        

     of Faith and Hope

Psalm 46-RSV

1 God is our refuge and strength,
       a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear,
       though the earth should change, 

In September 1971, this 2nd Lieutenant finished Navigator training and begrudgingly left a beautiful Sacramento CA for Basic Survival Training, three long weeks.  We were taught the subjects of POW training, basic first aid, the tasks of being rescued, and jungle survival.  At the time, I did not realize it but most importantly, what I was really being taught was Hope!  We learned many skills, but what we really learned, there is hope in being rescued, living off the land, and hope in even surviving Prisoner of War interrogation.  The key was HOPE!  But, this is a temporal story and there are much greater stories of Hope and Faith.  We never give up on being rescued because we survive our challenges through the  Hope for Greater Things to come.   Our greatest moments in life often come on the edge of our comfort zone and where we step out in faith.

Imagine being hated by the leaders, high powerful leaders, leaders powerful enough to condemn you to certain death, and you are only a lowly Priest!  On October 31, 1517, a lowly unknown monk posted 95 charges against the Catholic Church and its abuses of forgiving peoples sins.  Within just a couple weeks of publication of Martin Luther's "95 Thesis", he was hated by the established Catholic church of Pope Leo XX.  Over the next three years as Luther became the most popular figure in Saxony Germany and Duke Fredrick *1.  The more popular Luther became throughout all of Germany, the more He was hated, by the Pope.  Luther did not want revolution or even a separatist reformation, he wanted only to change the way the Catholic church to operate as it should.  He was put under great duress and without the protection of Fredrick the Wise, he likely would have been killed.  But Luther lived in his Faith and especially the Hope found in a new Faith he discovered in a Bible.  In April, 1521 Luther was summoned to the Diet of Worms *2, primarily to defend himself from final excommunication from the Catholic church, normally a virtual death sentence.  In excommunication, he was functionally an outlaw and if anyone helped him, they likely would be excommunicated too.  But, Martin Luther lived in Faith, and in Faith he had Hope.

Hope began and came from Psalm 46, his favorite Psalm.  Many things happened on the fateful trip to the Diet of Worms to stand and defend his writings before two people: the Emperor and defender of the Faith Charles V, and the "Righteous" High Representative of the Pope- Cardinal Oleander.  First, in his travels, Luther suddenly had a great number of every day people joining his pilgrimage.  He even stopped and preached several times on the trip.  Second, he never faltered in taking the trip, though even knowing what would happen on arrival,  his excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church.  Most importantly, his Hope and Faith shone on the trip as he rode in his borrowed open air wagon.  In this time of great stress, in what could have been his final days, he demonstrated what is written of in Psalm 46.  Luther wrote the words and his greatest hymn "A Mighty Fortress is our God"!  He finished the song two days before his entrance in Worms with 1000+ members of his collected entourage.  Upon arrival at Worms, his people had learned the words, knew the tune, and marched into Worms full of Faith and Gloriously singing his new song.  On Luther’s appearance at the Diet, it is recorded that the Dukes of Germany did the same on their entrance into the Diet the next day before the Emperor and Cardinal Oleander, singing the same song.  It was the prelude to the coming Reformation.

Many times Jesus showed His Faith and Hope.  It was recorded that in the Garden of Gethsemane, during his final moments, and depending on His Father when he prayed "Not my will but Thine be done"; and then stood up and moved forward for He heard his enemy coming!  Even in the face of great pain and trials, He had HOPE in completing God's will while meeting His enemy!

Luther's example of Faith and Hope is perhaps second only to Jesus.  Just think, just as Jesus, Luther was literally on his way to a death sentence, and he writes and composes perhaps one of the most recognized Christian hymns in the world.  Faith and Hope in God's protection, despite the circumstances, brings too, a peace of mind.

Luther was excommunicated but survived for about 25 more years.  Through it all, God protected Luther with earth bound agents doing His will.  He continued to write, he married, and had six children, much of this during his times of excommunication.

Jesus used the Word of God found in the Torah*3,  Luther the Latin Bible to guide him, and through their faithful prayers they allowed God through the Holy Spirit to guide them through pivotal moments in their lives. Luther could have renounced his writings just as Jesus could have ran away from His mission.  Thanks be to God they did not.  Thanks be to God they stood and faced their enemies!  

We all have pivotal moments in our lives, times we make decisions to go this way or that way.  We simply must learn to pray about everything.  Pivotal decisions come in life, we must be prepared to make the right decisions, even with little time to think, we may have to decide what path to take.  

We must Be Prepared for we too have enemies!  As Jesus and Luther, every day, EVERY day! they prepared themselves through prayer and Bible Study.  We must do the same and then pray for God to give you wisdom, give you peace of mind, and fill your heart and mind with Righteous decisions in all the pivotal moments and stories of your life too!

Thanks be to God 
   for
"Greater is He who is in you,
    than he who is in the world!


To God be ALL the Glory!
God is our Refuge and Strength!

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Psalm 46-RSV

1 God is our refuge and strength, 
       a very present help in trouble. 
2 Therefore we will not fear,         
       though the earth should change,  
             though the mountains shake 
                   in the heart of the sea; 
3 though its waters roar and foam,
       though the mountains tremble 
            with its tumult. (Selah) 
4 There is a river whose streams 
        make glad the city of God,     
             the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of the city;  
         it shall not be moved;
             God will help it when the morning dawns. 
6 The nations are in an uproar,
         the kingdoms totter;  
               he utters his voice, 
                   the earth melts. 
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;    
         the God of Jacob is our refuge. (Selah) 
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord; 
         see what desolations.
            he has brought on the earth. 
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; 
          he breaks the bow, 
              and shatters the spear; 
                    he burns the shields with fire. 
10 "Be still, and know that I am God!     
          I am exalted among the nations,
              I am exalted in the earth." 
11 The Lord of hosts is with us; 
          the God of Jacob is our refuge. (Selah) 

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*1  Germany at the time was divided into states.  Each state had a Duke as its governor.


*2  A diet was similar to what we might call an important conference or in Luther's case a meeting by the heads of state to dicide some issue concerning all the states.  Generally, they were called by the Emperor, in this case Charles V.


*3  Torah - The Jewish Bible of Jesus' day.   It is also the first five books of our Bible as well.

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© Lonnie Coggins
ldcoggins1948@yahoo.com