Scripture of the Day:
Romans 8:24-25 (NLT)
“We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)”
Philippians 1:6
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Hope Discovery of the Day:
The real hope in our resolutions is what God accomplishes in us in the midst.
This ache within us longs for when our dreams, plans and goals unfold into a reality. We started the new year off innocently enough, but likely did not have the same naïveté as we did in years prior. We might have even been a little jaded to hope that our resolutions might actually come to fruition. But the real hope in our resolutions is what God accomplishes in us in the midst. We bear fruit in our resolutions whether we meet them or not. Think on that for a minute.
Having a hope that God can help us grow means we are choosing not just to be static. We are opting for the path of growth, not apathy. This will take refinement in our character and friction in our lives as we go against our flesh and strive toward something greater.
But choosing to remain static is not really an option. Standing still is a facade. We grow or we die – there is no middle ground. When we choose to overcome all the obstacles trying to deter us from setting goals beyond us, we are choosing to hope. Hope in ourselves? No, that would not get us past today. Hope in God Who began a work in us and will carry it on toward completion. Faithful God.
Hope isn’t hope at all if we can see it. We might not see how God will accomplish His will in us or how we could ever achieve resolutions we set before us, but our hope in God is enough.
Our flesh does not like to wait, but the wait will be worth it. As we patiently partner with God by letting Him work in us, the fruit will be beautiful. Let Him has His way this year. Set goals and give them to Him. Don’t despair when you don’t meet some of them. God works in our missed goals just as much as He does in our met ones.
While we wait, God is always at work. He is using our longing to spur us on. When we refuse to grow weary and stubbornly cling to hope in our great God, a miracle happens within: we are changed to be more like Christ. That was the real goal, after all.
Don’t just exist. Choose to thrive in God’s perfect will. Keep hoping. Keep dreaming. Keep believing that God is going to work our crazy circumstances into something amazing that we could have never even imagined. When we refuse to let our vision get clouded by our inability to succeed in our goals on our own, we adopt hope in God’s ability instead. And the good news? His goals are always accomplished. His will WILL be done.
Lord, thank you for being Who You are. Eternal God. Loving God. Faithful God. Your purposes stand. And when we try to follow you and stumble along the way, You pick us up and continue to work in us. Thank You for not giving up on us, LORD. Help us to hope in You and what You are doing in us, not merely the achieving of our goals on this earth. May our goals be Your goals alone. We love you!