Now HopeSample

Planting seeds of hope in the expectation of a harvest Psalm 67:6 (NIV) The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. We all use the word ‘hope’ every day, without even really thinking about it. We say things like: ‘I hope it’s sunny tomorrow,’ ‘I hope there’s no traffic,’ ‘I hope this doesn’t take long.’ But did you realize that your level of hope today quite literally determines what’s going to happen in your tomorrow? What do I mean by that? It might be easier to approach it from the opposite point of view. Take a moment to think about the word ‘hopeless’. When we say a situation is ‘hopeless’, we’re saying there’s no point in putting in further effort – that nothing will turn around, no matter what we do. If someone says they are feeling hopeless in how they are living today, they’re saying that there is nothing for them to hang on to that’s going to draw them forwards. A loss of hope means you’ve lost your sense of meaning – there is no clear horizon that you’re traveling towards. It’s like they have lost sight of their ‘tomorrow’. Think about it. A farmer plows the ground, plants the seed, waters the seed, and removes the weeds. Why all the hard work? Because he has the hope of a harvest. Without this expectation, he would not have committed to the cost or effort needed to cause the crop to grow. He would still be staring at the patch of dirt in front of him, not seeing the possibility it contained. That is exactly what the enemy wants. He wants to rob you of your hope. He doesn’t want you to live for a new tomorrow, a greater horizon. He doesn’t want you to think about your harvest. He wants you to dwell on the possibility that you may experience a loss again like a previous season, where locusts devoured your crop before it could be harvested. But the successful farmer goes back, works hard, and commits – why? Because he’s got a hope – an expectation – that things are going to turn around. The truth is, while we all have a potential harvest in our future, everyone experiences situations that challenge our hope along the way. But resilient hope – the kind that aligns our present perspective to our future reality – can bring a great harvest. It moves us beyond past disappointments, positioning our today in God’s tomorrow. When you start to understand hope in these terms, you’ll begin to realize that you’ve got a role to play in putting hope into action. What is your level of hope right now? How can we grab hold of it better? Let’s keep journeying together and over the next few days we’ll explore some keys to unlocking activated hope in your life. For now, pray today’s verse over your life, and turn up tomorrow with an attitude of expectancy