“Abraham, when hope was dead within him, went on hoping in faith . . . He relied on the word of God.”
Romans 4:18 (PHILLIPS) How do you know when hope has died in your life? You start using the word “never.” I’m never going to get married. I’m never going to graduate. I’m never going to get well. I’m never going to get out of debt. I’m never going to be able to let go of my past and forget all of that shame and heartache. I’m never going to be able to change. I’m never going to see this situation turn around. That’s when hope has died—when you have reached a dead end and don’t see a way out. What do you do when your hope dies? Romans 4:18 says, “Abraham, when hope was dead within him, went on hoping in faith . . . He relied on the word of God” (PHILLIPS). When you are at a dead end—when it’s hard to hold on to hope—you need the Bible. Read it. Study it. Memorize it. Think about it. Write it down on little notecards and take them wherever you go. The Bible is full of promises, and nothing else can encourage you like it can. When you rely on the Word and trust in its promises, it will revive you emotionally. You won’t panic because you’ll be reminded that, even though something is out of your control, it’s not out of God’s control. A dead end is a test of your faith. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:17, “While God was testing him, Abraham still trusted in God and his promises, and so he offered up his son Isaac” (TLB). When God said he wanted Abraham to sacrifice his son, Abraham didn’t blink an eye. He didn’t panic—because he remembered what God could do. He relied on what God had promised him. Sometimes, like it did for Abraham, it looks like God wants you to give up your most precious dream. Can you offer that to him in faith, trusting in God’s deliverance? Maybe you’re at a dead end now, and it seems there is no way out. Hear this: Things are never as bleak as they seem. If you see no way out, it’s because you’re looking from a human viewpoint, not God’s. Romans 4:20 says, “Abraham never doubted. He believed God, for his faith and trust grew ever stronger, and he praised God for this blessing even before it happened” (TLB). A promise is only as good as the character of the person who makes the promise. The Bible says God cannot lie because he is complete truth. If he makes a promise to you, he’s going to fulfill it. It will happen exactly as he has said. When you’re at your dead end, trust in God’s truth.
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“Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, ‘Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.’”
Acts 27:31 (NIV) When you experience problems, difficulties, or hurts in life, they can either make you better or bitter. You really have a choice. You can either grow up or give up. You can become who God wants you to be, or you can become hard-hearted. When you go through difficult times, what happens to you is not nearly as important as what happens in you. You’ll take your character with you into eternity—not your circumstances. How you respond to life’s unfairness is up to you. That’s why you want to decide now what you will do. Acts 27 teaches three responses to avoid in trials, and from them, we can learn how God wants us to respond instead: 1. Don’t drift; stay focused. “The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along” (Acts 27:15 NIV). The ship carrying Paul and other prisoners to Rome was in the middle of the Mediterranean and hadn’t seen the sun for 14 days. They couldn’t get any bearings, and they started to drift. When some people face difficulty, they start drifting through life. They have no goal, purpose, ambition, or dream. Today we call this “coasting.” The problem with coasting is that you only coast when you’re headed downhill. Life is not a coast; life’s tough. Don’t lose your ambition or your dream when life gets hard. 2. Don’t discard; hold on. “We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard” (Acts 27:18 NIV). The men in charge needed to lighten the ship, so they threw the cargo overboard, followed by the tackle and the food. Because the storm was so overwhelming, they were discarding things they needed. When you get in a storm and the stress becomes unbearable, you may start abandoning values and relationships you would normally hold onto in better times. You might say, “I’m giving up on my marriage” or “I’m giving up on my dream to go to college.” But God says, “Stay with the ship!” God uses difficult situations to change people. It’s rarely God’s will for you to run from a difficult situation. God wants you to learn, grow, and develop—and he is there with you all the time. 3. Don’t despair; hope in God. “We finally gave up all hope of being saved” (Acts 27:20 NIV). After 14 days and after giving up their cargo, tackle, and food, the passengers finally gave up hope. But they’d forgotten one thing: Even in a storm, God is in control. He hasn’t left you. You may not feel him, but if you feel far from God, guess who moved? It wasn’t him! God is with you in the storm, and he’ll help you through it. And on the other side of the storm, you’ll find that he’s grown your character and deepened your faith. “This small and temporary trouble we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble.”
2 Corinthians 4:17 (GNT) When we go through difficulties in life, the first thing we often try to do is blame somebody else. But it doesn’t matter where your problem came from—God still has a purpose for it in your life. Even when you do something foolish, God can use it. Even when other people hurt you intentionally, he can use it. Even when the Devil tries to mess things up, God can bring good out of it. God’s purpose is greater than your problems and your pain. He has a plan! You need to look past the temporary pain and look instead at the long-term benefit in your life. Romans 5:3-4 says, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that . . . they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady” (TLB). What’s the purpose of your problems and difficulty? God wants you to learn something. Every storm is a school. Every trial is a teacher. Every experience is an education. Every difficulty is for your development. Most of us are slow learners. If you don’t learn something the first time, God will bring it up again in your life. It will come back because God is more interested in your character than he is in your comfort. He is more interested in seeing you become more like Christ than he is in making things easy for you. Maybe you are facing a major difficulty right now. It may be an illness, guilt, a financial problem, or strain in a relationship. Does God have a word for you while you’re going through your difficulty? Absolutely. God is essentially saying to you, “Don’t give up; grow up. Let me make you more like me through this painful situation.” Through your difficulty, let God fulfill his purpose in you—to transform you more and more into the person he created you to be. Trust this truth: “This small and temporary trouble we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble” (2 Corinthians 4:17 GNT). “Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me.”
Psalm 103:2 (NLT) When our dreams are delayed, we tend to forget things. We forget what God has done in our lives and his goodness in the past. We forget that God is with us. We forget God’s power that he uses to fulfill our dreams. The Israelites made this same mistake in the wilderness: “They forgot the many times [God] showed them his love, and they rebelled against the Almighty at the Red Sea. But he saved them, as he had promised, in order to show his great power . . . But they quickly forgot what he had done and acted without waiting for his advice” (Psalm 106:7-8, 13 GNT). It’s unbelievable how short their memory was! In Egypt, God sent 10 plagues on the Egyptians just to rescue his people. But the children of Israel forgot about God’s actions just days later when they were at the Red Sea, saying, “We’re all going to die!” They forgot what God had done. Then, God miraculously opened the Red Sea, and they crossed it on dry land, but they forgot all about it just a few days later when they thought they would die of thirst. Then, God miraculously provided water in the desert, but they forgot all about it just a few days later when they thought they would die of starvation. They were constantly forgetting what God had done for them! But we shouldn’t be too quick to judge them—because we do the exact same thing. When a delay occurs in our lives, we start acting like God has never done anything for us. Has God done things for you in the past? Sure he has. And you can count on him to do more things for you tomorrow and the next day and the day after that. Instead of forgetting, you need to remember God’s promises. There are more than 7,000 of them in the Bible. Whenever you have a problem, find a promise like 2 Timothy 2:13: “Even when we are too weak to have any faith left, he remains faithful to us and will help us . . . and he will always carry out his promises to us” (TLB). God’s promises are always greater than the problems you’re facing! If God hasn’t fulfilled a promise in your life, it could be because he’s waiting on you. He’s waiting on you to learn to not fear, not fret, not faint, not forget. He wants to develop you before he delivers you. God could do things immediately—but he’s working on a larger agenda. The delays that come in your life do not destroy God’s purpose. They fulfill God’s purpose in your life. “Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me” (Psalm 103:2 NLT). “Do you remember how the Lord led you through the wilderness for all those forty years, humbling you and testing you to find out how you would respond, and whether or not you would really obey him?”
Deuteronomy 8:2 (TLB) Dreams are never fulfilled immediately. There is always a waiting period. The Israelites were brought out of Egypt and then wandered around for 40 years before they went into the Promised Land, even though their journey shouldn’t have taken more than a few weeks. Just like the Israelites, sometimes you are delayed by God’s design. Every dream has difficulties, and God uses delays to prepare you to face those difficulties. God also uses delays to test you. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 8:2, “Do you remember how the Lord led you through the wilderness for all those forty years, humbling you and testing you to find out how you would respond, and whether or not you would really obey him?” (TLB). So when your dream is delayed, how should you respond? Don’t fear! Embracing fear is the first mistake the Israelites made. Deuteronomy 1:28 says, “Why should we go there? We are afraid. The men we sent tell us that the people there are stronger and taller than we are” (GNT). The Israelites had enough faith to move out of Egypt, but they didn’t have enough faith to move into the Promised Land. They were afraid. The problem with fear is that it keeps you in the wilderness. It prolongs the delay. Many of your dreams have never been fulfilled, not because of God but because of you--because you wouldn’t step out in faith. The antidote to fear is focusing on God’s presence. You remember that God is with you. He says, “Fear not, for I am with you” (Isaiah 41:10 TLB). He’s with you now, he always has been, and he always will be. Maybe you’re in the delay phase right now. You’ve been praying about something, and it hasn’t happened yet. You may start to think that God has forgotten you. God will never forget you! This is a delay by design. God knows what you’re going through. He wants to build your character, and he wants you to learn to trust in him. You can count on him for his help. Don’t fear. “A man is a fool to trust himself! But those who use God’s wisdom are safe.”
Proverbs 28:26 (TLB) Nothing happens with your dream until you move forward in faith! God gave Moses the dream of leading the children of Israel out of 400 years of slavery—but Moses had to make the decision to confront Pharaoh. God gave Noah the dream of saving the world from the flood—but Noah had to make the decision to build the ark. God gave Abraham the dream of building a new nation—but Abraham had to make the decision to leave everything and go out into the unknown. Just like these people in the Bible, you’ll never realize God’s dream for your life until you come to the stage of decision-making and choose to step out in faith. There is a simple, workable plan for making wise decisions that will keep you on track pursuing God’s dream for your life. 1. Pray for guidance. Before you do anything else, get God’s perspective on the issue. “A man is a fool to trust himself! But those who use God’s wisdom are safe” (Proverbs 28:26 TLB). 2. Get the facts. There is no contradiction between faith and fact. Find out everything you can before you make a decision. Proverbs 13:16 says, “All who are prudent act with knowledge” (NIV). 3. Ask for advice. Talk to somebody who’s made a similar decision and to friends who know your weaknesses. “The more good advice you get, the more likely you are to win” (Proverbs 24:6 GNT). 4. Calculate the cost. Every decision has a price tag; it may cost you time, money, energy, reputation, talents, or resources. Proverbs 20:25 says, “It is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider one’s vows” (NIV). When people pressure you to make a decision, it’s okay to say, “I’ll get back to you.” It’s more important to make a wise decision than a quick decision. 5. Prepare for problems. In faith, expect the best. Expect God to work in your life. But also prepare for the problems that are part of every decision. Solomon said in Proverbs 22:3, “A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences” (TLB). 6. Face your fears. Perfectionism paralyzes potential. God has always used imperfect people in imperfect situations to accomplish his will. Ecclesiastes 11:4 says, “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done” (TLB). In spite of your problems, doubts, or fears, trust God and start moving in the direction of your dream. “‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) Dreaming plays an essential role in developing your faith and helping you become the kind of person God made you to be. There’s an important connection between dreaming and believing, between your imagination and your growth. Without a dream, you get stuck. But with God-inspired dreams, you have almost limitless possibilities. Your dreams profoundly shape your identity, your happiness, your achievements, and your fulfillment. But God-inspired dreaming offers far more than just these benefits. Dreaming has eternal implications too. Dreaming is always the first step in the process God uses to change your life for the better. Everything starts as a dream! In many ways, a great dream is a statement of faith. You’re saying, “I believe that things can change and can be different, and I believe that God will enable me to accomplish it.” When you trust God, it always makes him happy. The Bible says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV). Dreaming is the step that gets the ball rolling. It is a catalyst for personal change. And it’s those internal changes that God is most concerned about; they prepare you for life with him in eternity. So first, God gives you a dream for your life. Then, you have to make a decision about it. The third stage is delay, where you wait for God to work in his time. The next stage is difficulty, where God tests you. Then, you might reach a dead end, which will make you want to give up. But in the end, God always brings you to deliverance, the final stage of his six phases of faith. God uses a process to grow your faith and develop your character. This faith-building process is illustrated over and over in the lives of people in the Bible. And it will be repeated over and over in your life as God moves you toward spiritual and emotional maturity. You will find no greater fulfillment than when you’re doing what God created you to do. Pursuing God’s dream for your life won’t be easy, and it won’t be quick—but it will be worth it. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT) Jesus says in John 17:17, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (NIV). What does sanctify mean? It simply means to grow up and to be made more like Christ—to get a reset. After you choose to follow Jesus, you’re not the same person. You’re different. You’re being sanctified. How are you sanctified? By God’s truth. The more you incorporate God’s Word into your life, the more you’re going to be transformed and made new. With the help of the Holy Spirit, you will be able to reset the areas of your life where you want to experience change. Making a change will always require you to know God’s Word. It’s the manual for resetting your life! When you decide that you don’t like the way you’re living and the decisions you’ve made are just not working, then you need to go to God’s Word. It’s going to help you in very practical ways: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT). The Bible shows you the path to walk on. It shows you where you got off the path. It shows you how to get back on the path. And it shows you how to stay on the path. In his Word, God has given you everything you need to make changes and then stay on the right path. This is why a daily quiet time of Bible study and prayer is important. If you’re going to change, then you’ve got to face the truth. And where is the truth? It’s in God’s Word. When you’re not in God’s Word, you’re not learning and facing the truth on a daily basis. The Bible is a mirror that will reflect the good, the bad, and those areas that need change. Let God show you all the truth he offers in his Word so you can make changes that will lead to a life of purpose and joy. |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
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