Hope

The dawning of a new year brings excitement to all. Some bring in the New Year in church, some attend parties but when the clock strikes 12, ushering in a new year, wherever we are excitement abounds. We make New Year Resolutions, as well as share our hopes and dreams for the future. I would venture to say most of us spend time making promises to ourselves (and others), and sharing our hopes for something new as the calendar year changes. We start the new year full of hope for different. Hope…what does it really mean? You know I looked it up, and found that hope is both a noun and a verb. As a noun, hope is defined as, “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen”. An archaic definition of the noun is, “a feeling of trust”. As a verb, hope is to “want something to happen or be the case”. Hope is necessary for human survival. It  assists us in managing life; believing positive change is possible, building resilience, coping with stress, motivating perseverance and stimulating our faith.

Lamentations 3:21-23 is a clear message of hope. In this passage we are reminded that our eternal hope is found in the never ending love of God, The Father. Regardless of the bountiful blessings, pain and problems of the past year; we have the promise of renewal with each day God allows us to awaken. Every brand new day assures me that I always, constantly, invariably have reason to hope. Each day that I open my eyes on this side of Glory, I am reminded of the unbreakable connection between God’s everlasting love and great mercy. The gift of a new 24 hours (1,440 minutes, 86,400 seconds); brings me fresh hope. This passage reminds me to look upward and forward when I am greeted by a new day. I am reminded that yesterday and its events, good or bad, is over and I have an opportunity to allow God’s goodness to penetrate my every thought, word and action. 

Every new day brings the chance to live in The Way that pleases our Heavenly Father and provides the privilege of basking in His faithfulness. Every morning, you and I are given a fresh start and invitation to live with active faith and eternal perspective. Hebrews 11:1, reminds us that trust is the basis for our faith. He Who was dead but is alive forevermore has moved mountains, opened closed doors, and transformed our lives. This knowledge should activate our faith and give us confidence. This confidence ought produce active living faith which is evidence by optimism and hope. Hope provides the strength necessary to walk into each new day trusting The Sovereign God with our existence. Our hope is in God alone (Psalm 20:7).

Active faith opens each of us to view life with an eternal perspective. The 55th chapter of the book of Isaiah reminds us that living with deep understanding of God provides grounding for our souls. This grounding allows us to trust The Father enough to yield to His plan and God knows and sees what we cannot and that ought provide us with a unique sense of assurance. The geological term, fluvial geomorphology assists me in gasping the concept of eternal perspective. Fluvial geomorphology is the study of river process and form. It examines the way rivers move and shape the land around them. When viewing land from an arial view, one can see that rivers rarely run in straight lines. Rivers bend and twist as well as wind and turn yet, they are exactly where God placed them. The shape and path of a river is established by erosion and sedimentation.

The Creator of all knows the purpose and plan for each of our lives (Jeremiah 29:11). He allows us to be shaped by spiritual erosion and sedimentation. He uses the “wearing away”, settling and purposeful depositing we experience throughout our lives to transform us, making us who He designed us to be at the beginning of time and placing us where He wants us to be. Understanding this phenomenon requires submission to God’s eternal perspective. God, The Omniscient One, Who exists outside of time, does not dwell in chronos, physical time, He is, was and always will be (Psalm 90:2, Isaiah 57:15, Hebrews 11:3, Revelation 1:8). God views everything from eternity, and He transforms our lives day by day, creating something beautiful out of it. The Father’s perspective is beyond our understanding, yet it is complete. Through the vigors and vicissitudes of life, The Father makes us more like Him each day. 

Viewing my life with eternal perspective, gives me hope. In addition to choosing to live with active faith, viewing life with eternal perspective provides clarity to the words penned by the Apostle Paul in the 28th verse of the 8th chapter of the book of Romans. The Word is clear, God has a plan and I need to submit to it by living a yield life. Yielded does not in any way mean passive. Living with eternal perspective gives me greater understanding of the work of The Holy Spirit in my life. This understanding helps me to be a willing and active participant in what God is doing with my life and planned for me. When I live with active faith and eternal perspective, I need to  willingly join The Father in His good plan. 

This year, I am determined to live with active faith and view all things with eternal perspective. This year, I choose to live with confident hope. I will choose hope over defeat. I will choose hope over despair. I will choose hope over fear. I will choose hope over negativity. This year, I choose to focus on The Word of God and awake each day expecting the new mercies He has for me. This year, I choose to hope, believing that all things really will do work together for the good (Romans 8:28).

Join me Under The Church Hat for this month’s devotion:

In less than 20 words write your definition of the word, hope.

List five things you hope God will do in your life this year.

Describe how you plan to live with active faith this year in less than 250 words.

Describe how you will view life with eternal perspective in less than 250 words.

Choose a passage from this month’s devotion and meditate on it throughout the month.