Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
Psalm 42:11 (ESV)
The Friction of Life
Everyone feels down at times. January in the midwest is a month that is marked by gray days and cold, dreary weather. In the last month, our house has seen four cases of bronchitis, two sinusitis victims, and two patients who developed pneumonia. And now I am coughing. Ughhhh! Sometimes the friction of life drags on you.
My responsibility
When times like those come, it is my job to remind myself of the source of my hope. It is my responsibility to lift my eyes up as I acknowledge the origin of my help and hope.
Where is my hope founded?
–God is my ROCK! (Psalm 42:9) He never shifts during difficult or exhausting times. He doesn’t promise one thing and then do another. He’s dependable.
–God is my SALVATION! (Psalm 42:11) He alone is the hope of the world and deliverance from the bondage of sin and despair.
–God has NOT FORGOTTEN me! He formed me inside my mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13) He knows the number of hairs on my head. (Matthew 10:30) He is Help and Hope right beside me and all I have to do is reach out to Him.
God is My Hope
See, something wonderful happens when I remind myself that God is my Hope. Hope in God leads to praising Him. Then praising God increases my hope in Him.
The cycle gets some momentum going and then January doesn’t feel so gray and dreary. The iridescent rainbow of hope begins to color the world I am viewing.
Fan Hope into Flame
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:6-7 ESV)
Continually Hopeful
It is my job to disrupt the drone of the blahs in life and stir up my hope in God. Lighting that perspective-changing spark dispels fear and ushers in power, love, self-control – all the qualities that set me up for good decisions and great accomplishments.
Action Step:
Open your eyes to one good thing God is doing in your life right now and thank Him for it. Today, let’s acknowledge Him as the source of our hope and help and start to stir up some excitement in ourselves at what He is going to do in us and through us. Let’s light the spark that will add technicolor to our gray perspective.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank You that you have not forgotten us. You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. You are our help in times of trouble and our salvation. You are Hope Incarnate. Help us remember to remind ourselves who You are so the gray days do not feel hopeless. In Jesus’ name, amen.