We’re 12 days in—Time to plant

How has 2019 started out for you? Are you running ahead with your goals? Or have difficulties forced their way into your life?

In the past few days I’ve have saddened learning of huge challenges some are facing, both new and on going. I, too, live with a new challenge—complications from a recent eye surgery.

I need hope.

I’m writing this for myself. If you’d like to listen in, I welcome you to explore the topic of hope with me.

John Piper says, “Christian hope is a confidence that something will come to pass because God has promised it will come to pass.”

That tells me that this hope is not merely positive thinking. It is a conscience decision to remember and trust in God’s power and faithfulness.

Where can I get that confidence?

Romans 15:4 (ESV) says, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

We build our hope, our confidence in God’s promises when we make scripture an integral part of our daily lives.

When I feel hopeless, that’s exactly what I am doing—feeling. And that’s ok. But I can’t stop there. I need to remember that God’s promises are to be believed above my feelings. I tend to let my feelings shape my faith, but my faith should set the tone for my feelings.

My faith is often weak. How can I keep hope fresh?

I have some ideas, but I don’t have a complete answer there. Partly, it may be a decision to believe instead of to doubt or fear. It may be that God wants me to cry out to Him for hope when mine is weak. Or, infusing mega-doses of God’s Word into my life may be in order. Of course, there may be physical conditions affecting my hope I need to address such as too much stress, lack of sleep, or a mental health disorder.

For my hope to grow and thrive, I need to daily plant seeds of God’s Word into my soul. That is one of my biggest goals for 2019. I aim to have a verse or phrase each day that I meditate on. I am reviewing passages I have memorized in the past to refresh them. I am developing an organized way to memorize and review verses.

I need hope. You need hope.

To grow hope, what is one way you plan to plant more of God’s Word in your life this year?