Hope Creates a Foundation of Possibilities
Choosing hope creates a foundation of possibilities and provides a path for my next step. But it is a choice.
#QuoteoftheDay
The roots of hope
grow into
a foundation of possibilities.
– Kathryn Lang
Crafting a Reality of Hope
“Whatever the first three words you see are your reality.”
I almost clicked the image my friend shared on her social media.
Almost.
Who doesn’t want to know what three words they will see.
Only, I didn’t.
I didn’t want my opportunities to be limited by three random words that I had seen on someone else’s social media.
And worse, three random words from some random image that had been randomly shared.
That’s a lot of random to be giving control over my reality.
Choosing My Three Words
I define my reality.
Faith
Hope
Love
Faith It
Faith is the substance of things hoped for – it’s the foundation for growing up everything else. And it’s not a sight thing. You don’t have a vision of faith, you have a heart of faith. Faith it until you make it.
Grow Hope
When you are defining hope, you have to start with God. Hope grows up from the promises of God and if you don’t have God and a relationship with God then you can’t know those promises.
Drive in Love
Love must be the driving force for every action. First, a love of God and then a love through God. Only when Love drives will you be intentional in all you do.
It Is My Choice
Not too long ago, I was annoyed at God.
Okay, it was yesterday. Or maybe five minutes ago.
When it’s not going the way I want it to go, or need it to go, or expect it to go, then my default reaction tends to be annoyance with God.
I’m certain I am the first to have that reaction.
Nonetheless, there I was, annoyed at the One that created everything, including me, because the circumstances hadn’t worked out the way I had planned.
It wasn’t even in the ballpark of what I had planned.
I’m not even sure it was the same game.
I moped.
I wallowed in frustration and disgust (which is way sticker than any mud).
Nothing seemed right. Nothing felt right. Nothing was going right. And nothing seemed true anymore.
I went to bed that night with the lyrics from a Christian praise and worship song floating around my head -the one that talks about this being how He fights my battles.
Shifting by Choice
I was choosing to believe out of sheer determination and grit. “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” I knew, despite what I had seen and where I was and even the WHYning I had been doing all day, I knew that I had to believe because it was the only way through.
I didn’t have to understand it.
I didn’t have to see it.
I just had to keep believing.
I woke up at the dawn of the new day and everything was different.
Okay, the circumstances were the same. It was my heart that was different. When I leaned into my Scripture study, I became engrossed in the words of Nahum 2:1. I used a concordance to pick through each word.
It grew the peace and calm that had drawn me into the day. I still didn’t see it all, but I knew that all I needed was to see the next step of intentional purpose.
Foundation of Possibilities
The more I work through my struggles the less I work in my struggles. In other words, the more I lean on God the less I have to depend on me. The more I learn the Truth, the more I can recognize the truth of my inability to fix it.
It’s a good thing I’m not supposed to fix it.
God has directed us to be about His business. Jesus said to simply love God and to love others through that God love and the rest would work itself out.
This is the power of hope. Hope says God said and it is. Hope is proven by the promises. Hope is the only way to make your way through this world.
The world will never understand, and the world will do all it can to talk you out of the hope that fortifies your possibility in purpose.
The world will think you are crazy . . . or worse . . . and will likely be quite vocal in saying just that. That’s okay. It’s more than okay. When the world thinks you’ve gone off your rocker, that’s a good sign that you’re leaning all in with God and into God. From that place of assurance, everything is possible.
THIS is how we fight our battles.
- Not in the world.
- Not of the world.
- Not by the world.
- Not even from the world.
The power of the Maker marks our path to abundant, purposeful, and powerful lives.
Hope is the root of that power.
Grow hope because hope creates a foundation of possibilities in your life, through your life, and for your life.
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When was the last time you invested in growing hope?
