My friend slipped away to Jesus…three years ago in the wee hours of the morning. Her gain is certain, although I (and many others) continue to feel her absence. She is woven into the tapestry of my heart. Her particular turn of a phrase, her insights, and her encouragement spangle my conscious thoughts. Little mementos of friendship are sprinkled throughout my earthly treasures and I am grateful to be the current librarian of her Bible and personal journals. Today I meandered through the pages and pockets of her well-worn Bible and had a glorious word picture of Betsy’s current reality appear…let me share the story with you.
I found a stash of small cosmetics in the front pocket of the Bible cover and idly rolled them in my fingers while I perused the pages of Betsy’s Bible. I set the makeup down when an underlined passage caught my eye. I think you will appreciate the word picture that emerged. I snapped a picture and laughed to myself for Betsy continues to teach spiritual lessons with the faith tools she left behind…and even with her lipstick!
The inscription on the lipstick case reads, “the color of hope”. What is the color of hope? Well, to L’oreal it is color #531 – a dusty rose…but what was the color of hope for Betsy? When Betsy lay dying, her hope (our hope too) for healing through medical intervention was certainly not fulfilled. Therefore, I’m going to pass on hospital shades of green (or beige) as the color of hope. Betsy was surrounded by folks who celebrated her and hoped to keep her on this side of heaven. That relationship sustenance hope was unfulfilled (suspended for now) so I’m going to discard the warm shades of friendship and companionship as the lasting pigment of hope, appealing though they may be. What are the enduring colors of hope? Here’s a hint carried on the whispered worshipful wings of an old hymn…“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”[1]
The underlined Bible passage which caught my eye just above the spot where I laid the lip tint reads:
“My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you…” (Job 42:5, NIV)
The context of this passage finds Job falling to his knees in repentance after God’s thundered apologetic rife with exemplars of His majesty. Job humbles himself and repents. He is restored and given twice the prosperity he enjoyed before his severe losses and grief. Job begins his response with, “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted..” (Job 42:2, NIV)
Betsy mouthed that sentiment with her daily breath. She declared God’s trustworthiness in Job fashion to her dying breath in fact. She believed what she heard and read about God. She knew His sovereignty and omnipotence. She lived what she believed. She trusted Him through loss and grief and ministry and marriage and moves and love and cancer and death. She appreciated the sweet frames of her husband, her friends, her family, and her calling. She loved and was loved but she chose to wholly lean on Jesus’ name. She built her hope on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. Those are her colors of hope: crimson blood-red and sparkling sanctified snow white.
18 … though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isiah 1:18, KJV)
White as snow, white as snow, though my sins were as scarlet,
Lord I know, Lord I know, that I’m clean and forgiven.
Through the power of Your blood, through the wonder of Your love,
through faith in you I know that I can be white as snow. [2]
Betsy and Hank once named a bedroom in their Willamsburg, VA, home the “Ruby Lips Room” for the particular shade of scarlet which graced the walls. As a grateful hospitality recipient whilst a resident of the “Ruby Lips Room”, I came into contact with the Teuton living-love tapestry shot with crimson blood red and sparkling snow white. I experienced encounters with the majesty of God and was enveloped in His love and mercy incarnated through Betsy and Hank. My hope began to float in the mire of existential pain and betrayal. My heart unmoored from anchoring tangles of sorrow and sin and set sail into seas of grace. I began to see, to really understand, the truths I had always heard.
So now I ask of you…what is your color of hope? Do you have the kind of relationship with God that can weather all manner of illness, grief, loss and pain…and remain unmoved in confidence of God’s goodness and trustworthiness? Do you have the hope of heaven? Do you have hope to sustain you through another day? Betsy’s hope is fulfilled. All that she had heard of Him (that familiar and beloved shape always before her) has been borne out. Her present reality is presence to Jesus in His present risen-ness. I am sure of what I hope for and certain of what I do not see – that she is more alive today than ever and that I shall join her presently and lay down my pilgrim’s pack…to drink in the sight of His beloved face…and enjoy that wondrous banquet of fulfilled hope.
What is your color of hope?
“My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you…” (Job 42:5, NIV)
[1] “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” by Edward Mote, 1797-1874
[2] “White as Snow”, CCLI Song Number 491917, 1990 Sound Truth Publishing (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.), Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Publishing (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.)
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