Category Archives: Personal Growth

Kids’ Easter Basket Ideas

Our Tradition with Easter Baskets

Easter is only a few weeks away, and that means Easter baskets! We have a tradition in our home that we keep every Easter. It’s actually a tradition passed on from my childhood, and that is candy trails. Every Easter, Matt and I prepare four different candy trails, one for each of our kids. Each child lines up behind their starting point and follows their trail, picking up the candy along the way, until they reach the end of their trail. At the end of their trail, they find their Easter basket.

We’ve had lots of creative hiding places over the years—the trunk of the car, outside under the deck, inside a cabinet, in the dishwasher, in a closet, down in the basement, in the dryer, etc. It’s such a fun tradition and one the kids look forward to every year.

Kids’ Daily Journals

Each year, most of us feel the pressure of finding special things for our children’s Easter basket besides just candy. One of the things we recommend are our Kids’ Daily Journals.

The Kids’ Daily Journal is a tool to help your child learn to pray, read, and apply the Bible even at a young age. The Kids’ Daily Journal is perfect for ages 5 to 12 for both non-readers and readers.

Journal Features:

Section for daily prayer: your child will have a chance to write down something they’re thankful for, something they’re confessing, and what they’re praying for
Record daily Bible reading: your child will record what they read in the Bible
Daily application: you child will draw a picture of what they learned and/or write a few sentences about what they learned.
6 months of journal entry pages
Large spacing for young writers
Creative drawing space for non-writers
Designed for parent-guided journaling for the non-reader or self-guided journaling for the reader.

If you’re looking for a little something special to put in your kids’ baskets this year, be sure to check out our Kids’ Daily Journals!

What else to put in?

What else could go really well with a kids’ journal? You could add any of the products below and help your child build their own morning time basket.

Bright colored pens
A new Bible
Highlighters
A book
Stickers
Book marks
Notecards
Post-it notes
Note cards

For More Encouragement

For more on this topic, check out my post, 12 Ways to Make Easter Special at Home. I wrote this post during Covid, but the ideas are still applicable.

You can also check out Matt’s book, Six Days to Sunday: Turn Setbacks into Comebacks.

When You Can’t Forgive Yourself

Leave a reply

It’s so hard to forgive ourselves.

I talked with a friend recently who was heartbroken about some things in her life. With tears in her eyes, she said, “I would have never thought I would have done this.” Matt and I listened as she poured her heart out; then we reminded her that God still loved her.

Matt asked her, “Have you confessed it to God and asked his forgiveness?” She nodded and then spoke these words, “But it’s so hard to forgive myself.”

We’ve been there; we’ve all blown it. We have all made mistakes and done things that we wish we wouldn’t have. Sometimes though, it seems impossible to come back from those mistakes.

Will God stop forgiving me?

A friend in our small group recently told us that he had a friend who had done something he didn’t believe God could possibly forgive him for. What do you do when you feel like you can’t come back from something? Is there any sin that’s too much for God to forgive?

David from the Psalms says, “But with you (God) is forgiveness…” (Psalm 130:4) We know God forgives, but does he forgive me? And will he forgive me this time? Will I wear out his forgiveness? What happens when God gives up on me and stops forgiving me?

How often does God forgive?

We get an idea of how Jesus felt about forgiveness when Peter asks him a question about forgiveness one day. Peter asks Jesus this question, “How often do we have to forgive people? About seven times?”

Peter thought he was being really generous in offering the number seven. Yet, Jesus responds with an answer that shocks Peter. Jesus says, “Not seven times. Seventy times seven.”

Is 490 the magic number then? No, Jesus was trying to get Peter to understand the point he was making. We are to forgive and forgive and then forgive some more. If Jesus wants us to forgive that often, how much more is he willing to forgive us?

God is still faithful.

I John 1:9 doesn’t change, no matter how many times we mess up and fall.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
I John 1:9

We have to choose to get back up again.

The tough part about falling is getting back up. We have to pick ourselves up off the ground, ask God’s forgiveness, tell him we were wrong, and then choose to move forward. It’s tempting to stay down, to wallow in the messiness of it all. True courage is to stand up, confess, ask God for forgiveness, and move forward.

The hardest part of all of that is to choose to accept God’s forgiveness. Once we’ve confessed it, it’s done. We don’t have to keep confessing or keep reliving it. It’s simply done. God removes that sin from us and thinks about it no longer.

He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.
Psalm 103: 12, 14

To move forward, we have to accept God’s forgiveness.

We have to choose to let it go. God’s forgiven it; we have to accept that forgiveness and move forward. If we don’t choose to accept his forgiveness, we won’t be able to move forward in life towards all that God has for us.

More Encouragement

For more on this topic, check out my post, What to do after Failure? A song to encourage your heart is Forgiven by Crowder.

Too Busy to Show Compassion

Leave a reply

Do you ever find yourself too busy to show compassion? I do. Often. And then God reminds me what’s really important.

Our Day Off

Wednesdays are our day off. We changed our day off to Wednesday last year when our small group started meeting at church because we had grown too large to meet in our home. The nights were getting later and later, and Wednesday’s were a mess at home the next day. The kids were tired and cranky after a late night, and it just wasn’t working. So we moved our day off to Wednesday. Because we homeschool the kids and Matt and I both work from home, it worked out.

It’s been really good for us, a much-needed change. There are a few problems that come with a Wednesday day-off, though. Matt has a meeting with pastors in the area that meets on the first Wednesday of the month, and Macey’s doctor’s appointments for her Type 1 Diabetes are always on Wednesdays. So we have to work around those events. Normally, we can make it all work and still get a day off on Wednesday, even on those weeks.

A Recent Day Off

Recently, Matt hosted the pastors at our church for the monthly meeting. We left the house early so we could grab the food and coffee and get everything set up. We had a great meeting. After the meeting was done, we picked up everything, packed up and met the kids and my mother-in-law for lunch. When we finally got home, we were ready to crash. It was still afternoon, so we had some time to just relax and enjoy down time.

Unexpected Visitors

That is, until a knock came at our door. We opened the door and found our neighbor, Art, at the door. We talked to him for a while and eventually invited him inside to continue talking. An hour or two later, he left, and I trudged upstairs to my room to get a little bit of down time and read. I grabbed the book I was currently reading, snagged a blanket, and settled against the pillows on my bed, ready to read. Before I even cracked the spine, the kids came running upstairs.

“Miss Tara’s here!”

Tara is another neighbor of ours. I took a deep breath and released it before getting to my feet and making my way downstairs once again. Tara ended up staying for awhile. We talked and even played several rounds of Uno. We had a good time, but in the back of my mind was this thought: this is supposed to be “my time.”

My Indictment

I was feeling really good about myself, patting myself on the back for being so “neighborly,” when God knocked me off my pedestal this week. For my morning time, I was reading in the book of Galatians. I read these verses:

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.
Galatians 6:2,3 NLT

Wow. I don’t think there’s any way to get past these verses, except to take responsibility and own up to them. If we think we are too important, what we are doing is too important to stop and help someone, we are simply fooling ourselves. We’re simply just not that important.

Jude reminds us in verse 22 of his short book that it’s compassion that makes the difference.

And of some have compassion, making a difference:
Jude 22 KJV

What’s Really Important

Those words smote me. How many times have I considered myself “too busy” to talk to somebody, to help somebody? How many times have I considered what I am doing too important to stop and go minister to somebody?

God used these verses to remind me of what’s most important— and that’s people, not my work. Ministering to people, loving on people will always trump whatever project I am currently working on. Compassion will always trump whatever work we are doing.

So the next time a knock comes at the door, my goal is to welcome the knock with a smile and compassion in my heart, not dread, because I get a chance to minister to somebody.

For More Encouragement

We just released a new devotional and study guide on the subject of compassion that goes hand-in-hand with this topic.

Created for Compassion: Answering the Call to Make a Difference is a thirty-day devotional that focuses on making a difference in the lives of others through compassion. Each day has a story to read, verses to study, and questions for application that help push us towards compassion and making a difference in the lives of others.

The accompanying study guide, 40 Days Compassion Study Guide: Opening Doors that Make a Difference is a six-week study guide with accompanying videos and is great for a small group to work through.

The Faith to Move Forward

Leave a reply

Sometimes, it’s easy to get comfortable, to settle into how God is working in our lives. As soon as we do that, it’s inevitable that God will send something into our lives to shake us up. He will use that thing to develop and strengthen our faith and ultimately move us forward.

David’s Anointing

Samuel, the prophet, shows up one day to Jesse’s house. He skips over all of Jesse’s older sons and waits for David, the youngest of all of them. David leaves his sheep and comes to see Samuel. God tells Samuel to anoint David as the next king of Israel.

What’s interesting to note is that David does not actually become king for another fifteen years! That’s a long time to wait on God.

David’s New Job

It’s not long after David is anointed that the king sends for David to come to the palace. The king’s advisers have told him about David, that he is a talented musician. So Saul sends for David and asks him to come be his own personal musician.

Can you imagine David’s face or his father’s face when they get the summons? They were probably scared to death that the king had actually found out about David’s anointing. They probably thought that King Saul was going to kill David as soon as he got to the palace.

Amazingly enough, Jesse trusts God enough to send his youngest son to the king, even though he fears that Saul has already or will soon uncover the truth.

David’s Faith

Can you imagine the fear David must have felt when he arrived at the palace? If anybody learned his secret or if the king found out, he would immediately be killed. In spite of all this, David stays at the palace and serves Saul. He plays music for him when he’s distressed, he fights his battles for him, and leads his soldiers.

Standing Firm in Our Faith

Sometimes, God leads us to do things that don’t make sense, that make us fearful. When it comes to times like this, we can either trust God and move forward or let our fear keep us from accomplishing whatever it is God wants us to do.

I was reading in the book of Isaiah this week. God gives a message to his people through Isaiah the prophet. This is what he says:

Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.
Isaiah 7:9

When God’s ready to move, we have to be ready as well. We have to develop and strengthen our faith, so that when the time comes, God can help us stand firm in our faith.

More Encouragement

For more encouragement, check out my post Developing a Faith that’s Strong Enough to Stand On or check out Lysa TerKeurst’s book, What Happens When Women Say Yes to God and Walk in Faith.

Memories are Made from Moments

Leave a reply

I was reminded yesterday that it’s the moments that make up our memories. Yesterday, we took a field trip to a science factory for school. As a part of the day, we also stopped at a park because the weather was so nice. I had the kids do a writing assignment while we were there. While I was doing the assignment with the kids, Matt snapped a picture and sent me a text saying, “This right here is why we do what we do.” He also sent me some thoughts, some of what I’m sharing in this email.

So often, we get so busy. Life comes flying at us from all directions. I find myself with a to-do list every day that’s daunting, and I find myself constantly saying to my kids, “I’m busy right now; I can’t do that right now. We can do that later, another day.” I tell myself it will be better after I finish this project or this deadline, but that’s not necessarily true. Because after that deadline, there will be another one and another one.

Yet, for all my busyness, life doesn’t slow down. My kids aren’t getting any younger; I’m not getting any younger. If we’re not careful, life will pass us by in the blink of an eye. We can either let it pass us by, or we can choose to grab ahold of it, force it to slow down for us.

How do you slow time?

For me, slowing down time is accomplished by simply spending time with the people I love and creating memories with them. We measure life in moments. Those moments add up to be memories, and we treasure those memories. Those moments create the memories we will tell for decades to come. If we miss those moments, we can never get them back.

How do you create memories?

How do we create those moments so we can be assured of memories later on? This is something I constantly struggle with. Matt is much better at it than I am; this is a constant struggle for me because my mind is always busy. Left to my own choosing, I will always choose to work. So I have to remind myself of these principles:

Be present. When it’s time to do something with those you love, choose to simply be present. For me with my kids, I have to choose to do the activity with them, paint the picture, throw the football, chase them through the field, laugh with them, etc.
Create moments. There won’t ever be any special moments that will turn into memories if we don’t intentionally schedule time into our calendar. Plan for special days—trips to the park, day trips to special places, picnics, read-alouds, craft and art projects, cook-outs with friends, special dinners, coffee dates, etc.
Take pictures. Pictures will be my memory of this day when I forget. Pictures will remind me that this day was special and worth it.

How do you make it work?

Maybe you, like me, struggle with this concept. Maybe you find it hard to take a break, to cut loose when there is so much to do. I hear you. Here’s a quick assignment. Answer these two questions:

What are the things I can do anytime?

What are the things I can only do in this time?

If we’re honest with ourselves, answering those two questions will remind us of what’s important right now. If you’re in the midst of the child-rearing years, remind yourself of this principle:

The days are long, but the years are short.

Choose to be Intentional

Too soon, our kids will be gone from our homes, moving on with their lives. We have to choose to be intentional about our time with them. This applies to anybody in any life stage. Maybe you don’t have kids, but this still applies to your friendships and relationships. We only get one shot at this life; let’s make it count.

Remember this: The moments we spend today will be memories we reminisce or missteps we will forever regret.

More Encouragement

A great book on this topic is Hands-Free Mama by Rachel Macy Stafford. I really felt convicted reading this book but also inspired and encouraged. You can also check out my post My Reminder from a Heart in the Sand.

3 Ways to Turn Discouragement into Hope

2 Replies

We all go through times of discouragement. It can happen any time, but one of the times people get most discouraged is in the months of January and February. The sun isn’t out as much; it’s generally colder, depending on where you live. Especially for those of us in the North, it’s sort of a depressing time of year.

What do you do to combat that discouragement? How do you find hope? What do you when you feel defeated? Matt and I were having a discussion about this topic this week. The next few days in my morning time, God brought these verses and thoughts to mind that can help turn our discouragement into hope.

1. Believe.

My word for this year is believe. It sounds cliche or simple, but there is nothing cliche about believing, about taking God at his word. When life feels like it’s falling apart, and you don’t know what to do, turn to God. Choose once again to believe, to have faith that he can make good come from the bad and the ugly. Trust him to bring you through this time. Understand that he’s still at work.

You can read my full post about my word for the year, about believing, HERE.

2. Be Still.

One of the most well-known verses in the Bible is from Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God!” There’s something about that verse, about those words. It brings a sense of peace and calm to our hearts, even in the midst of chaos and confusion.

When the Israelites stood on the opposite side of the Red Sea after crossing all night on dry ground, they turned back to see the Egyptian army coming after them in full force. Chariots riding hard, generals shouting commands, soldiers in gleaming armor, piercing weapons…it made quite a picture, a terrifying one. Yet, Moses tells the people to stand and watch.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I would have been able to stand and watch. I would have turned and ran in fear. But Moses tells them to stand still; see his words from Exodus 14.

But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.”
Exodus 14:13

Those were powerful words coming from their leader. The Israelites obey; they stand still and watch. They watch as God releases the hold on the walls of water on either side of the Egyptian army, and those waters crash down, drowning the entire army. I can’t imagine the shock and silence that followed in those first few moments before they erupted in cheers and praise to God for saving them.

It seems so counterintuitive when you’re in danger, in a trial, in trouble, to be still. Yet, that’s what God wants from us sometimes. Sometimes, when we’ve done all we can do, we have to be silent and wait and watch God work.

3. Be Thankful.

The third thing to do is to find something to be thankful for. Sometimes, we have to just look at our day and find something to be thankful for. Then find something else. Maybe it’s simply to look at the sunrise and be thankful for another day. Maybe it’s to look at those closest to you and be thankful that you don’t have to go through life alone. Whether it’s one thing, or ten, choose to find something to be thankful for.

Jon Gordon says this, “It’s actually physiologically impossible to be stressed and thankful at the same time.”

The Psalmist wrote this in Psalm 50:

Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High.
Psalm 50:14

But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.
Psalm 50:23

There’s something that happens when we choose to be thankful. Our minds are changed when we choose to be thankful, choose to find something to be grateful for. Why? Because at least for that little bit, our mind focuses on something that brings us joy. We focus on something that makes us content, and that draws our attention away from our problems. Gratitude has a way of lightening our load. It often helps us to remember that we don’t really have it that bad; there are others who have it so much worse.

If you find yourself struggling with discouragement today, with being hurt, feeling like God’s not pleased with you, then try one or all three of these things this week and see if it doesn’t turn your discouragement into hope.

More Encouragement

For more encouragement on this topic, check out my book, The Hidden Pain: When You Fear God is No Longer Blessing Your Life or check out my post, The Key to Unlocking Hope.

3 Things I do Every Night Before Bed

Leave a reply

A successful day starts the night before. We’ve all heard that saying so many times; but what does that look like? For each of us it looks a little different. I love to hear what’s working for others and love to share what’s working for me.

Getting in the Right Head Space

For me to get up and be ready to start my morning time routine, my head has to be in the right frame of mind. If I come downstairs, and the living room is a mess, there’s clutter on the table, or dishes in the sink, I can’t focus. Or if I’m exhausted because I went to bed super late the night before, I’m not in a good spirit to start my morning time routine. I’ve sabotaged my day before I’ve even started.

So over the last few years, I’ve tried to get really focused on sticking with a bedtime routine. It’s really made a big difference for me in my productivity and the overall “success” of my days.

3 Things I Try to do Every Night Before Bed

Here are three things I try to do every night before bed that help set me up for success the next morning.

Clean up the house before bed. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but I at least try to wash the dishes and start the dishwasher for the night. I sweep the floor. I make sure the table is clean and ready for my morning time routine the next morning.
Write the next day’s to-do list on my phone. I do this so that I don’t have to expand extra energy the next morning trying to remember what I need to do for the day. The next morning, I just look at my phone and write everything down in my planner.
Get to bed at a good time. This is probably the one I struggle with the most. But when I go to bed at a good time, it is so much easier to get up early the next day and be in a good head space to start my day.
*Bonus: I’ve been trying to drink a cup of sleepytime tea each night before bed. I’m not sure if it makes a difference in my sleeping, but I like the calming effect of it.

What is your bedtime routine? What do you do before bed to set yourself up for a successful day the next day? I’d love to know!

For More Encouragement

One of my favorite books on routine and household chores is Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley.

If you like the idea of a bedtime routine and want ideas for a morning time routine as well, check out my free morning time routine course.

What It Means to be Surefooted as a Deer

Leave a reply

It’s an interesting comparison that the prophet Habakkuk makes in Habakkuk 3:19; he says that God gives us strength and makes us surefooted as a deer. The King James Version says it this way:

The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.
Habakkuk 3:19 KJV

What is a hind?

A hind is actually a female red deer. I did a little digging this week to better understand this verse. Here’s what I found out. A hind won’t step on anything that is not sure and steady under its feet. What’s so interesting is that she will place her back feet exactly in the same place her front feet went. She is exactly sure footed, not off by an inch. Because of these two abilities, she is able to scale mountains and rocks without any fear of falling. It’s no wonder God told Habakkuk to use a deer as an example of sure footedness.

I haven’t seen too many deer up high in the mountains, but I have seen goats and mountain sheep high on the tops of mountains. It’s amazing to watch them. They are so sure footed, even on the side of a mountain. It’s the most amazing sight! Below are a few pictures I took from the road of big horn sheep climbing the mountains in Colorado.

They are so fearless as they traverse up and down the sides of mountains.

What does living like this look like?

When I see a picture like this with this verse in mind, it helps me to understand more clearly how God wants me to live my life. He wants me to so trust in him and in his goodness that I can literally bound around even dangerous places and not feel an ounce of fear because I know “God’s got this.”

I’m not sure how close to bounding you are right now. You may be the furthest thing away from that, and that’s okay. It just gives us a picture of how God created us and wants us to live. It gives us something to strive towards.

How do we live this way?

How do we live this way? What’s the secret? The secret lies in the preceding verses:

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
    and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
    and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
    and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
    I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
Habakkuk 3:17,18

If we want the surefooted confidence of a hind, we have to hand over the control of our lives to God and choose to rejoice no matter what comes our way. We can not control the circumstances in our lives, but we can control our response to those circumstances. And the response every time, according to these verses is supposed to be joy. It’s a choice. A choice to choose joy and to be as surefooted as the deer as we make our way through this life, or a choice to choose despair and frustration and find ourselves doubting, questioning, and stumbling on our difficult journey.

What does it mean to choose joy?

These verses are some of the most encouraging yet challenging verses in the Bible. How do we choose joy when life is so hard at times? I think we have to remember that joy doesn’t mean “happy” necessarily. It doesn’t mean we slap a smile on our faces when our world has just fallen apart.

It simply means that in the midst of the heartbreak, we choose to acknowledge that God is still good. That’s where our joy comes from. It comes from this deep place in side of us that goes deeper than simply “happiness.” It’s a deep understanding that I choose to still trust God and not let my circumstances determine my response.

So the next time you see a deer, stop for a moment and just watch it bound effortlessly away and remember these verses and let it remind you to choose joy every time.

More Encouragement

For more encouragement, check out my post Enjoy the Stage of Life You’re In.

I would be remiss to not mention a popular older book called Hind’s Feet in High Places that gets its name from these verses.

Finding Freedom from Comparing Ourselves

Leave a reply

Comparing ourselves to others is so easy; in fact, it’s too easy. Social media channels make it the easiest thing to see the perfect moments in somebody else’s life and feel the pressure that we don’t measure up. Do any of these thoughts feel familiar?

Comparing Ourselves

My house doesn’t look like that. I don’t know how she does that. She looks really good. How does she dress like that and look so good all the time? How are their kids so smart? Why doesn’t my husband say those things about me? I wish we had that kind of money. I wish we had a house like that. If we had more money, we could do that too. How do they make enough to get that car, that vacation, that….fill in the blank.

Have you ever found yourself spiraling with thoughts like these after being on social media? It doesn’t just have to come from social media, either. It can happen after going over to someone else’s house, after meeting with a friend for coffee, after seeing a commercial on tv. We find these thoughts pinging at us constantly. Satan knows just how to show us something that makes us want more than we have or make us think we don’t have enough.

Shaming Ourselves

Usually then, we take it one step further. We begin to shame ourselves for not measuring up to another person or idea. We feel completely inept and imperfect, and we begin to doubt ourselves. Then come the thoughts that paralyze us and keep us from moving forward.

I can’t do this. This isn’t working. I am a complete failure. How can anybody love me or stand to be around me? Why can’t I figure out life like everybody else? Why am I the only one who doesn’t have their act together?

I am so convinced that this is one of the greatest weapons Satan uses to keep us from doing what God wants us to do. He uses these doubts and questions to keep us side-lined or at least distracted. If we don’t feel good about ourselves, if we constantly doubt ourselves and feel shame, how in the world can we be of any use to God? The answer is we can’t be.

Emily Freeman, in her book, Simply Tuesday, says this:

The best way to sabotage my own success is to be obsessed with someone else’s.
Emily Freeman

Focusing Ourselves

The surest way to not succeed and not move forward in life is to focus on other people and their successes. Paul tells us how to combat this problem in the book of Galatians.

Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
Galatians 6:4,5 NLT

And we’re reminded of the foolishness of comparing ourselves to others in II Corinthians.

For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
II Corinthians 10:12 KJV

Freeing Ourselves

So how do we free ourselves from the trap of comparison? Here are a few ways to get you started:

Don’t compare yourself to others. Refuse to compare yourself or your work to other people or what they are doing. Keep your head down and stay focused on your own work.
Take a break from social media, or limit your time on social media.
Spend extra time each day practicing gratitude. Gratitude is a great way to combat envy.
Start each day with God and get consistent with a morning time routine.
Spend some time writing down your successes. What has God allowed you to accomplish? Then thank God for those successes.

Above all, remember that God created you uniquely you and gave you the talents and abilities needed to do the work he wants you to do. That’s all you have to focus on.

More Encouragement

For more on this topic, check out Sandra Stanley’s devotional Comparison Trap. It’s a 28-devotional and has a free accompanying app with corresponding videos.

You can also check out my Finding Free Products.

The Key to Unlocking Hope

Leave a reply

I wrote last week about my word of the year—believe. If you missed that post and want to read why I chose that word, check out my post , My Word for the Year. The more I think about belief, the more I am beginning to see how belief and hope are tied to each other.

Abraham Held Tightly to His Hope

One of the greatest examples of hope in the Bible is the story of Abraham and Sarah. Romans 4 tells us that even when there was no reason to keep hoping, Abraham held onto his hope.

Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!”And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.
Romans 4:18,19 NLT

Abraham knew how old he was, and he knew how old Sarah was. He had every reason to give up hope that they would have a baby, but he stubbornly clung to hope.

How? How did he not lose hope? And how do we get that same kind of hope, a hope that doesn’t give up no matter what?

The Key to Unlocking Hope

The key to unlocking hope is belief. Abraham believed when there was no reason to; he kept hoping when it was long past time to give up hoping.

If you’re still alive, then it’s too soon to give up. If your heart is still beating in your chest, then there is still hope. There is still hope for your marriage. There’s still hope for your finances, for your unsaved loved ones, for your wayward child, for your health, for that impossible situation. Whatever it is, it’s not too late. There’s still time for God to work. The key is to believe that God can do whatever it is you’re asking him to do, and trusting that he will do it.

Don’t Give Up

Maybe you just need to be reminded today to stay in the fight. Don’t give up. Get back out there. Keep believing. Keep hoping. Wait with anticipation for God to work and to come through for you.

I can tell you this. If you stop believing, then it won’t come to pass. God cares too much about your faith. Faith is everything to him.

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 NLT

If You’ve Lost Your Hope

If you’ve lost your hope, here’s what you have to do. Go back to when it was that you stopped believing—when you stopped believing in God’s goodness, trusting God to come through for you. Go back to when God let you down. Start there. Have a painful conversation with God; write down your thoughts and pray them to your Father. You’re not going to hurt his feelings; he can handle it. Be honest. Tell him everything you are thinking and feeling.

Then, ask God to help you start believing again; that’s on him. The next part is on you. Now you have to choose to start believing again. It’s going to take some work at first. Just like strengthening any muscle that’s weak, it will take time. But if you keep doing it, if you keep exercising faith, you will find hope begin to bloom inside of you once again.

Here’s my prayer for you…

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 NLT

For More Encouragement

If you enjoyed this post, consider sending it to someone else to encourage them. For more encouragement, check out The One Guarantee if You Quit.

A great book to read about increasing your faith through prayer is Mark Batterson’s The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears. I highly recommend it!