Tag: burden

A Better Future with Hope

On By vickleaIn promises, Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

From the YouVersion Bible App, “Advent: 25 Day Countdown to Christmas,” Day 2

How Can We Have Hope?

Is your life going to get better, or will it get worse?

How about the world? Will it get better, or will things spiral further out of control?

Or what about a person in your life who keeps making hurtful choices? Will they change? Or are they doomed to keep causing pain?

Delightful questions to start day two of a Christmas Bible Plan, right?

So why did we ask these questions? Because how you answer reveals your hope.

It’s easy for life to steal your hope, even if you’re naturally a “glass-half-full” kind of person. Tragedies, unrest, division, aging, and natural disasters can make it easy to feel like our best days are behind us or impossible to reach.

But is that true? Or could it be possible that by reflecting on the story of Scripture, we can find real, resilient, and realistic hope? The kind of hope that can keep you afloat, no matter your circumstances.

First, what is hope?

Hope is the wholehearted, evidence-based conviction that God is making the future better than the past or present.

Sounds great, but what evidence? Well, let’s go back in time to over 2,000 years ago.

In those days, in a province of the Roman empire called Judea, people were low on hope. Most of the evidence from the past told them to give up. A handful of powerful empires had steamrolled their people, and it seemed like their story was almost finished.

But God was still writing their story. And through both prophets and ordinary people, His message of hope spread throughout Judea: a promise He wouldn’t leave them alone in the darkness, but would come to save His people when the time was right.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s only day two, after all. For today, ask yourself, “How’s my hope?” Ask God to help you renew your hope in Him.

Pause and Pray:

Thank You, God, for making me new in You. When things feel out of control or painful, please help me to remember that You’re working. Help me to build my hope step by step until I have complete faith in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

My Thoughts

I have always been a “glass half empty” kind of person, thinking that if things are going well now, all I have to do is wait and something bad will happen. Generally, I have not been disappointed in my low expectations. God has been working on me to help me overcome this negativity. I am better, but I am not there yet and I know it, so I have to continue to press into the promises in the Scriptures in order to keep myself focused on God and not on what might possibly happen. The middle scripture above is just right for me!

I like that the devotional points out that God is making the future better. I look back on my younger years and remember having energy, a fulfilling job and children at home. I miss those years. Presently, I am aging and right now I am sore from wrestling with a toddler who wanted constant attention and for me to pick him up and hold him, even when he was very wiggly. Do I like feeling sore? No, but I know that the soreness will pass but the memories I made with my grandchildren will last. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know Who holds my future and I am confident that He will bring me closer to Him even as I move away from life on earth. That is a future to look forward to!

Because of Jesus, when I find myself discouraged, I can go right before God, into His holy presence and tell Him exactly how I am feeling. He already knows anyway, so being honest with Him is the only way to go. Once I do that, I usually feel encouraged. Why? Because I am not carrying the burden alone; Jesus has taken the burden away from me and that helps me to see things more realistically and with a hope that comes from His steadfast love and faithfulness.

I trust that you are enjoying the days leading up to the greatest holiday of the year. Christmas is a time to renew our hope in the Lord and to show others how hopeful we are. It’s not about who is President or the wars going on in the world. It’s all about Jesus! He’s where our hope lies!

Happy Labor Day!

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

It’s that time of year when thoughts turn to another year of work, another year of school, another year of setting and trying to keep goals. Yes, it is Labor Day. Did you know that this day was established back in the late 1800’s when people marched in NYC demanding better pay and time off? Of course, they were working twelve hours per day, six days per week. These days, there are many who have decided just to remain at home and get the paycheck from the government who has so willingly decided to make them dependents. My thoughts on that come from the Scriptures.

We are to work so as to not be a burden to others. Our primary goal is to do the work of the Lord, but we also have to have a job that pays for our food and shelter. The government, also known as the taxpayer, does not owe us anything.

Harsh words, right? I have read in several books that in establishing the colonies, several of the governors used this Scripture to make sure that the people understood that working was to be undertaken by everyone. How far we have come from this! It has become the responsibility of Uncle Sam to feed us (EBT), to shelter us (HUD) and to meet our medical needs, too. That was not how God established things to be. Work=Eat. Simple equation that we need to return to. I know what you are thinking: But, Covid….Yes, there was and is a pandemic (I prefer my daughter’s word for it, the “plandemic”), but God doesn’t say to work and eat as long as there are no dangers to your health. I don’t see any conditions to the statement above. We did what the government said to do for over a year. China sent us a virus, tanked our economy, influenced our election and still has many too afraid to go out to earn a living. Work=Eat.

The final word for Labor Day is that we should not get tired in doing good for others. I don’t know about you, but I am most energized when I have a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning and to get my day started. Imagine if every day, each of us awakened with a sense of having a partnership with God and doing good each day for someone! What a different world it would be! Instead of “me, me, me”, it would be “you, you, you.” I would like to live in such a world, a world where people are kind just because it’s the right thing to do, where people understand that we are all humans sharing this planet until God calls us home to be with Him. Our time on earth is finite, but our kind words and deeds can last forever. We just have to reach out to a hurting world and give them the same hope that Jesus has given us.

My prayer is for each of you to have a blessed Labor Day, reflecting on God’s goodness to you and directing it out to others. 🙏🏻