Get Your Hopes Up!: Expect Something Good to Happen to You Every Day (15 page)

Romans 2:4 (NKJV) teaches that it is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance. You’d be surprised how many of your friends, neighbors, and co-workers would want to accept Jesus if you’d just be good to them. Sometimes we need to stop preaching to everybody and just start being kind to the people in our lives—take a genuine interest in them and bless them, pray for them and ask God to make us aware of how we might serve them. In other words, we should “show” people the love of Jesus!

James 2:15–16 says:

Let’s not be people who say, “Good-bye! Keep yourself warm and well fed.” If someone has a need, and if you can meet the need,
then do it. Too often we dismiss a need by saying “I will pray for you,” without even asking God to show us what we might do to help. I have learned that I don’t need to pray and ask God to meet a need that I could easily meet myself but perhaps just don’t want to do so. If you’re going to pray that God will help someone, be ready for Him to send you to do it.

One person said he went as part of a group to Russia to hand out Bibles during a particularly hard time when a lot of people were starving. The team took their Bibles to a soup line where people were waiting to get a small piece of bread and a bowl of soup. As one man attempted to hand a Bible to a woman, she became angry and said, “Your Bible doesn’t fill up my empty belly.” It was as if she resented the Christians for telling them about a good God while offering no tangible, practical help. Those believers who were handing out Bibles never forgot that. I believe that some people are hurting so badly that they would not even be able to hear the Gospel if we didn’t do something to relieve their pain first.

Now, of course I’m not saying we shouldn’t give people Bibles, but I am saying that besides giving them the Word, we need to meet their needs. That’s what Jesus did. Jesus gave people the Word
and
He met their needs. He fed them; He healed them; He taught them; and He listened to them. He did more than talk about the goodness of the Father; He
demonstrated
that goodness in real ways.

If there are people in your life today who need to know Jesus, let me suggest you try a new method of sharing the Gospel. Instead of just telling them about the hope found in Christ, give them that hope. Find out what needs they have and ask God to help you meet those needs. Maybe they need groceries, gasoline for their cars, or money to go to the doctor. Maybe they need a babysitter so they can
have a night to relax. Maybe they just need someone to listen. Whatever you can do to show them the love of Jesus, do it. When you help people with their physical needs, you’ll be surprised at how quickly they open up about their spiritual needs.

It’s important to remember that life isn’t just about ourselves. We may be going through personal difficulty in our lives, and when we are, it’s easy to get totally focused on asking God to help
us
, to meet
our
needs, to provide the things
we
feel
we’re
missing. But in the midst of dealing with the issues that directly affect you, don’t forget about the people around you. Everywhere you look, there are friends, relatives, co-workers, neighbors, and strangers who have a need—a need you may be able to meet.

The best way to receive hope is to give it away. In God’s economy, the last are first (see Matthew 20:16), the least are the greatest (see Luke 9:48), the weak are strong (see Joel 3:10), and when you give you receive (see Luke 6:38). So go ahead and get your hopes up. You can discover a whole new way to enjoy your life simply by helping others enjoy theirs. Look around you and see whom you can help—I promise you won’t have to look very hard. Someone you know is praying and asking God for help right now. Maybe you can be the answer to that prayer!

I believe God wants us to be stable and enjoy life no matter what is going on around us. He wants us to be solidly anchored in Him and to be hopeful at all times. I think one of the best testimonies we have as believers is our joy. We have so much to celebrate! We’ve been forgiven, healed, and set free. And not only did Jesus die to make a way for us to spend eternity in Heaven, but He promises that we can enjoy every day of our lives here on Earth. Christians should be the happiest people on the planet!

Although we are God’s children, we do have trials and tribulations, and often we let them dictate our thoughts, moods, and attitudes. We let them steal our smile, and that is tragic because I believe the joy of the Lord on our faces is a great advertisement for Jesus! How can any difficulty make us unhappy for very long when we have the promise that God works all things out for good for those who love Him and who are seeking His purpose for their life?

Joy and happiness aren’t luxuries or mere options—they are essential aspects of our lives in Christ. Nehemiah 8:10 says: “… And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength…” and Romans 14:17 (NIV) says the kingdom of God is a matter of “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Joy is vitally important if you are going to live a victorious, overcoming life.

Joy and hope go hand in hand. When you begin to really live in hope—believing and trusting that God is going to do amazing things in your life—joy comes rushing in. You couldn’t be depressed or discouraged even if you wanted to. Hope is the natural cure for unhappiness.

Why not do an experiment to see if my belief in this area is correct and will work for you? The next time you are experiencing a sad, depressed day, take the time to think
God is working my problems out for my good and I am expecting something good to happen to me
. Now try saying the same thing out loud, and repeat this process throughout the day. It may not be how you feel, but it is the truth! God’s truth has the power to overcome our feelings if we give it the opportunity to do so.

When we have hope in God’s goodness, it stabilizes our frantic thoughts and emotions. It calms us down and cheers us up. Our soul (mind, will, and emotions) finds its place of peace in God’s promise. If people have no hope, it is impossible for them to remain stable in the storms of life. They have nothing to anchor them to any foundation that is not shaky. If we have no hope in God, what exists in the world that we can trust as a permanent place of safety? The honest answer has to be “There is nothing!”

Instead of merely “trying” to feel better or thinking that you
can’t feel better until your circumstance changes, give God’s Word a chance to work in your life.

Life can be so much fun. I made my mind up many years ago that I was going to enjoy my life because I never had before. Even in the ministry, I mostly worked and worked, and labored and struggled, feeling guilty most days because I focused on my faults and just generally was miserable. Finally I realized that Jesus really wanted me to have joy and enjoy my life (see John 10:10). Like anything else in the kingdom of God, joy is available, but holding on to it requires determination. The enemy will try his best to keep you from enjoying your life. Through his lies and deception he will try to make sure you don’t have any peace, that you live under the burden of condemnation, and that you don’t believe God loves you. Anytime you feel hopeless or joyless, realize immediately that what you feel is the devil at work, and you should resist him!

You can decide to enjoy your life—every aspect of it. Even in the midst of adverse circumstances or criticism from people you care about. You can be happy because your hope and your joy are based on God’s goodness in your life, not the world’s circumstances. When we live with hope and expectation that something good is about to happen, joy becomes our normal attitude.

The truth is that your circumstances will probably never change until your joy is no longer based on them changing. Let’s be happy because of the hope we have in Jesus rather than being unhappy because we have a circumstance that we don’t like.

The conditions in the world are always changing. It’s easy to see why people are so unstable—because everything around them is unstable. Things are good one day but not so good the next. People may like you one day but may not like you the next. You’ve got a
job one day but perhaps not the next. You have enough money one day, and then an unexpected expense leaves you in need. Your kids behave one day, but they’ve forgotten everything you ever taught them the next. If we are led by how we feel or the way things look, we will be emotional and unstable. The apostle James said we are often tossed hither and thither by the wind (James 1:6). The apostle Paul said we are like ships tossed about by changes (Ephesians 4:14). But we can be stable and unmoved by adversity or disappointment if we have hope as the anchor of our soul.

In a storm, one of the first things a ship does is drop anchor. The ship is tethered to something that is not moving. Everything around the sailors is moving, but they are not. They are anchored to the bottom of the ocean. Our hope in God can serve us in the same way. Everything around us is moving, but we are stable in Him.

We want to let our hope in God be the anchor of our soul, instead of letting the cares and anxieties of the world weigh us down. Hope in God is an unfettered joy; it is not dragged down by the cares and burdens of the world. Think of a hot air balloon. As long as the balloon is held down by weights and tied down with ropes, it can’t soar as it was created to do. The same is true for your life. If you allow the weight of worry to hold you down and the ropes of anxiety to bind you, you won’t experience the life God created you to live. I want to encourage you to rid yourself of the baggage trying to weigh you down; being anchored in hope is very different from being weighed down by worry.

Here are a few things that try to weigh you down.

It was such a freeing lesson for me when I learned that I didn’t have to be like other people. Our hope of acceptance can’t be in trying
to be someone we are not. God didn’t create me to be like them. He created me to be me!

But before I realized that, I spent years trying to fit into someone else’s mold. I tried to be easygoing like Dave, but that didn’t last long. I tried to be quiet and soft-spoken like the pastor’s wife at my church, and that was a disaster. I was so frustrated trying to be other people. But I wasn’t supposed to be a copy of somebody else… and neither are you.

God created you to be you. And being content and comfortable with who He created you to be is essential if you are going to enjoy your life. Trying to be like your neighbor, or your co-worker, or the girl who sings onstage at church, or a Hollywood actor will only steal your joy. Don’t compare yourself to someone else—enjoy who God created you to be.

Whether you realize it or not, you have unique gifts and talents. The Bible says you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14 NIV). God crafted you into the person He wanted you to be. Nobody in the world is exactly like you—you are a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.

Anytime you’re tempted to think
Man, I wish I was more like this person
or
If only I had the talent of that person
, just realize they’re probably saying the same things about someone else—maybe even you. We all face those feelings, but you don’t have to let them weigh you down. Choose to be happy with who God made you to be, and let your soul be anchored in hope and let your joy soar.

When you choose to forgive the person who hurt or offended you, it’s like cutting the rope that has been tying you down. Joy is restored to your life when you decide to forgive. When someone has hurt you, I suggest you do two things:

When we hold on to grudges and unforgiveness, we’re only hurting ourselves. The people who wounded us have gone on with their lives, not even thinking about what happened, and the whole time, we are allowing the poison of bitterness to ruin our lives. Don’t allow a past hurt to hold you back another minute. Forgive the person who hurt you, give that wound to God, and ask Him to help you rise above the pain that has been so hard to let go.

If hope is going to be the anchor of your soul and joy your lifestyle, you may need to do a little pruning. You may have to simplify your life by trimming off the things that are not bearing any fruit. You may need to learn to say “no” to some things and not feel guilty about it. Keep your life light enough that joy can soar!

I’m speaking from experience. I used to complain all the time, saying “How can anybody keep up this pace? I need a vacation. I never get a break!” One day, I felt like the Lord was saying to me “If you don’t want to do everything you’re doing, just cut back. You’re the one making the schedule.” That was a freeing moment. I didn’t have to try to do it all, and I didn’t have to feel guilty about it. Think about this: Would God rather we be busy or joyful? I think we know the answer, so let’s do what we can do without our activities becoming a burden to us.

Slow down and take time for the things that are really important. Spend time with your family and your friends. Enjoy your relationship with the Lord. Take time for yourself—enjoy a hobby.

Slowing down and enjoying your life is so important. If you’re too busy to be happy, and if you’re so busy you feel hopeless, it’s time to
make a change. Simplify your schedule and begin to really enjoy the life God has blessed you with.

There are countless things that can weigh us down. I have mentioned three, but I suggest you add to the list based on your own situations. Whether it’s one of these three things or something else, refuse to let the lies of the enemy hold you down any longer.