It might be possible that God loves symbolism! Jesus often taught using images of nature or aspects of farming to help His listeners grasp the meaning behind His concepts.
Actually, most of life seems to be a metaphor for some truth if you think about it! Marriage is to reflect our relationship with Christ. Parenting helps us understand how God sees us as His child. The bread and wine remind us of the cross, and so on.
I love symbolism! So I knew the logo for Hope Dwellers had to be symbolic and meaningful. When you look at the logo, I want it to remind you of what it means to live, or dwell, in a place of hope.
The Door
First, the idea for the door comes from Hosea:
Behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will give her her vineyards from there and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope. She shall sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the days when she came up from the land of Egypt. And it shall be in that day,” says the Lord, “that you will call Me “My Husband” and no longer call Me “My Master”.
Hosea 2:14 NKJV
To understand this symbolism, we need to first understand the Valley of Achor. In Joshua 7, after the Battle of Jericho , one man’s greed and disobedience cost the Israelites dearly.
Men lost their lives, and the army lost a fight against their enemy. The place where this occurred was named the Valley of Achor, meaning Valley of Trouble.
Do you have places in your life you’ve named Valleys of Trouble?
My friend, there is hope!
In the Hosea passage quoted above , God offers His people a new and better alternative in their perspective of this dark valley with its bad memories. He says He will give them this place as a door of hope.
Now as much as I love symbolism and poetic images, I still want to know: what does this really mean for us today? How does this thought help us in our struggles right now?
Let’s Bring it Home with Jesus
In John 10, Jesus declares that He is our door.
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”
John 10:9 NKJV
Now to bring this back to our door of hope, here’s how we can apply it. We may be facing a Valley of Trouble. We may have lived in it a long time.
We may be there because of our own terrible choices.
We may be there out of no fault of our own.
But in the Valley of Trouble, we can look for a door of hope, and that door is Jesus. His promise, and it is a promise you can count on, is that He will save us.
We can have hope, dear one, because Jesus promises to be the door through whatever we face.
There’s no promise that the trouble will diminish or disappear. No, we’re talking about what’s going on inside of us. We can make a choice internally to step out of our circumstances and into where Jesus is for us then and there.
We can look at every situation THROUGH Him and remember what He has done for us and what He has promised He will do.
He wants to rescue us and restore us and make us whole.
In the John 10 passage above, Jesus promises that if we enter through Him, we will be saved. The word “saved” is the Greek word “sozo“. Yes, I am so very thankful He saves us from our sins and promises us eternal life.
But “sozo” also means to keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction, to save a suffering one from perishing; to make well, heal, restore to health; to be made whole.
Oh friend! If we truly believe Jesus wants to do all of that for us, we CAN have hope!!!
ENTER IN!
The Vine
The next part of our logo is the vine. In John 15, Jesus declares that He is the vine and we are His branches.
A branch broken off and lying on the ground will not produce anything. But if it stays connected to the vine, where it gets its nourishment, it will grow and be fruitful and beautiful.
If we abide in and stay connected to Jesus and His word…if we camp out and pitch our tent in all that He promises us – believing Him, then we can have this assurance:
- We belong to Him.
- We can know the real truth.
- That truth will bring us freedom. (John 8:31-32)
Regardless of circumstances and how they might make us feel bound and hindered, we can be free on the inside because Jesus keeps His promises. God cannot lie. (Hebrews 6:18)
Making the choice to dwell on His word and dwell in Him brings us hope. Hope that we’ll not only have what we need to make it, but we’ll have what we need to thrive and be productive and fruitful for His kingdom.
To abide in the Vine doesn’t mean we go there for a quick visit or even for an extended stay of vacation. To dwell means we live there. We choose to camp out in His words and His promises. They become familiar and comforting, yet also encouraging and empowering.
Jesus says we can’t do anything on our own, but here’s the good news: We don’t have to! We can stay connected with Him all and have all we need, just like the branch on the vine.
The Butterflies
Lastly, the beautiful little butterflies in our logo remind us that we have been transformed into beautiful new creatures because of His great love and sacrifice. We are new! We have been changed.
Our old man is dead and gone.
We are no longer worms!!!
Please take a minute (actually it’s just under a minute) and watch this transformation.
We are no longer worms, friend! We no longer need to feel like we should crawl on our bellies in the ashes. We are new creations, made to fly!
Our Father has lifted us up to give us worth and dignity. We need to see ourselves the way He sees us.
And the best part? He does love us just as we are,and yet He has so, so much more for us!!
He has made us to be a part of His story and He wants you to know the part you were destined to play. He is more than willing to engage with us in a process of transformation so that we can become all He intended for us.
We can hold our heads up high and live in confidence and hope because of His plans. Because of His grace and abundant love. Because of the hope He offers us that we will be more and more like Jesus.
So that’s the story of the Hope Dwellers logo. When you see our logo, I hope you’ll be reminded of all you have in Jesus.
When you find yourself in a Valley of Trouble, dear friend, I hope you’ll look for the door of hope, where Jesus is in your midst. Be courageous to step away from where you are and into all He has for you.
I hope you’ll abide in His word, being connected to His life of fullness and camping out permanently in His promises.
And I pray you will experience beautiful transformation and see yourself as the new creature you now are, just like the butterflies! No more worms!
Always be asking Jesus what He wants you to know about Him wherever you find yourself, valley or mountain top. Ask Him what is true about you. He wants to give you hope.
May you be blessed to see the door of hope Jesus offers you in every situation you find yourself. May abiding in His promises bring you the fulfillment of all His word for your life. And may you find yourself truly changed from the inside out to be more like Him.
Looking for the Door with you,
Trish
Credit for bringing our logo design to life goes to my incredibly gifted and talented cousin, Jenny Smith. Didn’t she do a fabulous job? You can read more about her here.