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1. ADJUST
YOUR EXPECTATIONS.
Not every team wins the
Super Bowl or Olympic gold. Not every applicant
gets the job. Illness happens. Not every
marriage soars. It might make sense not
to set your goals so high. But who wants
to settle for mediocrity?
On the one hand, hope can
be misplaced. If your highest hope is in
achievement, you will eventually be disappointed
success is transient. King Solomon wrote:
"As I looked at everything I had worked
so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless
...like chasing the wind" [Ecclesiastes
2:11]. On the other hand, if we're so afraid
of disappointment that we lower our hopes,
we can close ourselves off from what God
may have in mind. The proper balance can
be elusive.
2. LEARN FROM YOUR DEFEATS.
Disappointment and failure
build character and patience, when allowed
to do so. They can teach you to win and
lose with grace, an increasingly lost art
these days. Romans 5:3-4 says it like this:
"We can rejoice, too, when we run into
problems and trials, for we know that they
are good for us, they help us learn to endure.
And endurance develops strength of character…"
Inner spiritual strength, the kind resulting
from sincere faith in God, helps cultivate
that attitude.
Teenage Hawaiian surfer
Bethany Hamilton lost her left arm to a
1,500 pound shark. Her upbeat response startles
observers. "This was God's plan for
my life," says Hamilton, "and
I'm going to go with it." 3 months
after the mishap, she was back surfing competitively
she regards her tragedy as an opportunity
to inspire others with God's care.
3. BUILD FRIENDSHIPS.
God often ministers to
our hurts through other people. It can be
tempting to put up walls when you're feeling
especially vulnerable, but if you shut out
friends, you could be sealing off healing
and hope. During a particularly lonely time
in my life, I was very glad to have close
friends. My wife was divorcing me, some
coworkers had betrayed my trust, and I had
a cancer scare. Two days before the divorce
was final, a longtime friend called to see
how I was doing. I wept into the phone as
I described how my world was crashing in.
Knowing that my friend was there and that
he cared gave me strength and hope to endure.
4. GO DEEPER WITH GOD.
Friends are essential, but humans can let
us down and err in judgment. I had earlier
discovered that God would never desert me.
He said: "I will never fail you. I
will never forsake you" [Hebrews 13:5].
His friendship had sustained me over the
years amidst criticism from friends and
adversaries, financial challenges, educational
disappointment, and broken relationships.
God had a good track record; it made sense
to trust Him.
Paul found strength and hope through his
friendship with God. He wrote: "If
God is for us, who can ever be against us?
Since God did not spare even his own Son
but gave him up for us all, won't God, who
gave us Christ, also give us everything
else?" [Romans 8:31-32] Paul was convinced
nothing could separate him from Christ's
love: "Death can't, and life can't.
The angels can't, and the demons can't.
Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow,
and even the powers of hell can't keep God's
love away" [Vs.38]. The more we stake
our security in God's enduring love, the
less power disappointments will have to
undermine our hope.
5. FOCUS ON ULTIMATE
HOPE.
During that dark time
in my life, my mentor reminded me of what
Paul said in this same letter: "God
causes everything to work together for the
good of those who love God" [Vs.28].
That "hasn't been repealed yet,"
my friend said. He was right.
While we sometimes get
stuck focusing on the here and now, our
present situation isn't the end of the story.
Paul knew how disappointing life could seem
- we only have to read his letters to know
that. Yet he never quit encouraging his
fellow believers to see the big picture
in the midst of their trials and hold on
to their supreme hope in God. He wrote:
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though
outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly
we are being renewed day by day. For our
light and momentary troubles are achieving
for us an eternal glory that far outweighs
them all. So we fix our eyes not on what
is seen, but on what is unseen. For what
is seen is temporary, but what is unseen
is eternal" [2 Corinthians 4:16-18].
God's plans are nearly always bigger than
we think. The sting of our relatively short-term
disappointments in no way compares to the
ultimate hope we have in Him.
I Peter 1:13 counsels,
"Prepare your minds for action; be
self-controlled; set your hope fully on
the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ
is revealed." In other words, wonderful
things will come our way once Jesus returns
to this troubled planet. But even now, God
offers compassion, forgiveness, and strength
to those who trust in Him. Relationship
with Him gives us the great hope that empowers
us to face any disappointment.
Do you know what it is
like to have a relationship with God? The
strength and peace that he offers is available
to you today. You are not in this life alone.
If you are looking for someone you can place
your trust in, a foundation to build upon,
you can find that safe place no matter what
you are facing today. God offers us hope
for tomorrow and for all the tomorrow to
come. Place your trust in God and his promises.
Anchor your life to the hope that he brings.
He is the well deep enough
to draw from when you need peace, hope and
wisdom, insight and love, endurance and
faith. He gave His Son Jesus Christ to die
on the cross for all our sins. Everyone
feels unworthy sometimes, but God thinks
you’re worth it - even worth the death
of His Son.
You can receive Christ
right now by faith through prayer. Praying
is simply talking to God. God knows your
heart and is not so concerned with your
words as He is with the attitude of your
heart. Here's a suggested prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want to
know you personally. Thank you for dying
on the cross for my sins. I open the door
of my life to you and ask you to come in
as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my
life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and
giving me eternal life. Make me the kind
of person you want me to be.
Does this prayer express
the desires of your heart? You can pray
it right now, and Jesus will come into your
life, and forgive you of your sins forever,
just as he promised.
1. Names and some details have been altered
to protect privacy.
2. Abnormal Psychology and Modern Life.
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