Do you have a confident hope in what God has for you? Are you certain of Who holds your future and Who guides your steps?
“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 15:13
I believe that God gave us hope to fuel our days, to lead us in to what He has for us. Scripture says He is the source of hope, leaving us to know that when we give Him our all – our heart, affections, expectations, etc – He will fill us with joy and peace! What a promise and comfort!
Tune Out the Fears
I’ll be honest, I have a few fears in life. Some might be graded as rational, while some I’m quite certain are irrational. I do my best not to dwell on them, but some days they are loud in my head.
I think it is important to identify those fears so that you can label them what they really are – negative faith. You see, fear is just the expectation of something bad going to happen. Faith is the expectation of something good. Thus fears are negative faith.
On a good day – even an average day – fears probably aren’t top of mind. We press on with what is right in front of us, occupied with living life. But it’s the hard days where we must be vigilant. The long days when we’re worn out or perhaps everything is working against us. Those are the days we become most in tune with our fears and concerns.
Pay attention and identify them as what they are. Fears aren’t necessarily obvious and it is good to realize when you have an irrational fear so that you can reject it and claim hope and confidence in God!
Invite Hope In
No matter who we are in life, whether well established or just starting out, we’re all human. Ideally, we’re working to grow our relationship with God and follow His lead.
I was listening to something the other day and it has inspired me – what if, in all situations, you expected the best? The best thing you can imagine – hope for it! Things going smoothly and working out – hope for it! Changes that have seemed so long in the coming – hope for them! Every. Single. Situation. Cultivate a confident hope that things are going to work out better than you can imagine!
Did you shy away from that one a bit? I mean, I get it, I had to really give it some thought. But think about the reverse. Expecting something mediocre or not good to occur – why does that seem easier and less controversial to expect? Is that the life you want? Less than? Underwhelming? With that context, it makes the answer obvious to me! I want to invite hope in! I want to expect the best and anticipate what’s ahead! After all, God is the God of abundance and more than enough!
You Get What You Expect
To a certain degree, you get what you expect. As a man thinketh, so is he… You find what you look for… There are so many proverbs and sayings that remind us of this.
So what if we flipped the socially acceptable script and turned everything on it’s head? Next situation where your knee jerk reaction is at best mediocre, switch it around to be resoundingly excellent! Invite a confident hope in to help you respond to everyday life situations. Because every little thing matters. I think we’re conditioned to only think the major things matter, but in truth, it’s a million little things that lead to the major things. Every chance you get, change the narrative in your head to one of confident hope.
I read something really interesting (or maybe I heard it, I don’t recall specifically) and it was this: God is who you think He is. Recall in the New Testament, the story of the master and the servants with talents. To those who used their talents, the master was good and just. But to the one who squandered his talent, wasted his potential – remember how he said the master was cruel and hard? Some translations even say that the servant who wasted his talent was afraid. He let his fears overwhelm his confident hope in what God could do through Him. God is who we think He is.
The master mentioned above was seen as good and just by those who put in the work, but the servant who was fearful saw him as cruel. The master was one and the same, it was merely the servants who saw things differently. Which harkens back to the old adage, you see what you look for. So look for the remarkable, change the channel and cultivate a confident hope in what God has for you!
Trust in Him
Trust in Him, lean in to where He leads, listen to what He puts on your heart. I am convinced that God loves our attention. Give it to Him, talk to Him, look for Him, expect to see Him in your life. Ask Him to lead you through what He places on your heart. Confidently come to Him with those hopes and dreams that you’re scared to share. Ask Him to confirm them for you as you go about your day. If you will surrender everything to Him, I truly believe you can be confident that He will lead you where He needs you. He’s not one to play tricks – that’s fear speaking. God is faithful and you can trust Him completely!
I pray this encourages your heart! May God bless you with incredible dreams and confident hope and faith in Him!
Until Next Time!
Hope.
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