How to Focus on Hope to Create Mound Building Determination
Focus on hope. Hope makes a way. It starts the process and moves the heart just a little bit closer to the light. The little bit of movement creates momentum that makes the next little bit a little bit easier.
Get hope. Hold on to hope. Hope will grow up in your heart the mound-building determination of the ants.
Daily Inspiration and Encouragement
February 14, 2020
Daily Dash of Twisted Encouragement
Find Ways to Focus On Hope to Get Determined
I ran over the ant bed with the mower. It wasn’t the first time and I wasn’t the only one that had done it. Every time my youngest son and I mow, we run over the ant beds.
When I drove back around after making a lap around the yard, there wasn’t a single ant stomping away from the edge of the now demolished bed with their hands up in the air and shouting, “I quit.” Nope, not one.
Instead, those ants were all already busy and invested in repairing and rebuilding the mound I had crushed. They might have been frustrated. They might have shouted a few choice words when they saw the damage I had done. No matter what they were feeling or what they were thinking, they were back at it.
Be like the ant, the Scripture tells us. I think of the determination and grit the ants have that allow them to keep building no matter what happens. They are focused, on point, and have an end in mind. And then they go at it one little bit at a time – one piece of dirt at a time.
I build my mound and then someone comes along and knocks it down. The first time I get right back to it. After all, I know that I’m supposed to build this mound so that’s what I’m going to do.
I build my mound and then someone comes along and knocks it down. I sit down and sulk for a moment, twist my lips, tighten my fists, and then find the momentum to get up and start building again. Because I KNOW I’m supposed to build this mound so that’s what I’m going to do.
So, I build my mound and then someone comes along and knocks it down, and I fall down next to it. “I’m tired. It’s not working. Why me?” I walk away to cry some more. I find someone to talk to and they encourage me. They tell me I can do it. I begin to believe I can do it because I KNOW I’m supposed to do it. So I go back to it.
It takes a little longer, but I build my mound and then someone comes along and knocks it down. Unlike the ant, I give up.
I give up because I focus on what I have done and what has happened which takes my eyes off the finish line. I’m watching the waves around me instead of walking on water to Jesus. And in losing the right focus, I lose hope. When hope goes, so goes my ability to take another step.
If I want to get to where I know I’m supposed to go then I have to maintain the ant focus that tells me I have to do it because I’m supposed to do it.
Focus On Hope
When the going gets tough, you will give up and walk away without a foundation of hope to fuel your momentum to just keep going. The more you invest in seeds of hope the more you will grow up the hope that fuels the determination to keep on building.
- Be crystal clear on what you want. The more muddled you are in purpose the more difficult it will be to focus on anything much less to find the hope in the darker moments.
- Accept the past. No matter how it happened, it happened. You can’t change what happened, so make the choice to accept it. Acceptance gives you the ability to move forward.
- Evaluate the moment. Instead of just pushing forward doing what you have done, look at what you have done and why the mound keeps getting knocked down. It may be time to build in another location or just to do something different.
- Give yourself a defined moment (a limited amount of whining time) – when it gets overwhelming, give yourself a timeout but define the length of the timeout. Set an alarm if necessary. Once the timeout is over, have a small little bit that will actionably move you in the direction you KNOW you need to go.
- Have a rebuilding plan – have some simple steps you can take that will help you get moving again after you’ve had a fall.
Building your purpose life will not always go along with what the world has defined. Most of the time it won’t. And along the way, the world may run over the mound you have built. Sometimes, you will run over your own mound because you’ve lost your way.
No matter how it happens, the only way to get to the life you desire and the only path for living out your BIG DREAM goals is to pick yourself up, knock off the dust and dirt, and start building that mound again.
What will you do to keep building your BIG DREAMS?
Challenge for Intentional Actions
Focus on Hope
Leave the past in the past.
Evaluate the reasons for the moment.
Adjust if necessary.
Have a plan to get going again.
Things will happen – sometimes because someone else causes the issue and sometimes because you cause the issue to yourself. No matter how it happens, you have to make the choice to get going again. Hope makes a way.
Create a focus on hope.
Quote of the Day
“Hope is hidden only to the heart not seeking to find it.” – Kathryn Lang
Focus on hope. Find your ways to create a seed of hope and it will begin to grow up your world of possibility living.
What Others Say
Scripture Focus
Today’s Readings:
Numbers 19 – 21
2 Chronicles 9 – 12
Daniel 1 – 4
Proverb 13
Scripture Focus:
“Knowledge is easy to one that understands.” – from Proverb 14:6
Ponder Point:
Invest in Wisdom. Through Wisdom, you grow your understanding. With understanding, you will find that the knowledge for what to do and how to do and when to do because easy because the choices you make are standing on the foundation of Wisdom.
Share Moment:
What can you do to invest in Wisdom that grows up the easy knowledge?
Study Question
Dig in deeper to the Word to grow a closer relationship with the Word.
In 1 Samuel we learn that rebellion and stubbornness are the act of rejecting the Word of the Lord.
How does that knowledge reflect on your walk?
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