- Anonymous
Someone once told me that hope is not a feeling, it's an action. When times are good, it's pretty easy to feel hopeful. But when things get dark and times are tough, it's a lot harder to look at the brighter side of life.
It is then, that hope becomes a choice.We must refocus our attitude, our thoughts, and our perspective. Otherwise, we will slide into a state of hopelessness, and once you are in over your head, it's really difficult to pull yourself out...but it can be done. I just want to give you some practical suggestions to help keep you from continuing down that discouraging slide.
Get into the Word of God continually. Not just daily but throughout the day. Look up scriptures of hope and encouragement and strength. A good place to read is in Psalms. Then take those scriptures that speak to you, write them down, and put them in a place where you will physically see them on a regular basis. Yes, it's good to commit scripture to memory, but sometimes I need a visual reminder when my mind is stuck in negative mode.
Surround yourself with positive things and people. Don't allow yourself to be fed with depressing and/or negative stuff...television, music, advice, atmosphere, relationships. Philippians 4:8 in The Message Bible says this, "Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious— the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse." I'd take it a step further and say don't just fill your minds with these, but surround yourself with people and things that exemplify them. Positivity breeds positivity.
Think about what you are thinking about. Whenever I'm going through a hard situation, it's so easy to go down a rabbit trail of pessimistic and self-pitying thoughts. Taking that path seems a lot more natural to me than to take the one of hope. Ironic right? No one likes that feeling of hopelessness, yet that's the direction we allow ourselves to move in when we have that mind-set. Try to realize when you are starting that negative thought pattern and force yourself to stop and think about something else. Ask God to give you strength and to fill your mind and heart with other things (i.e. Philippians 4:8 stuff).
Look for God in everything. You see what you are looking for, so look for God throughout your day. As cliche as it sounds, every cloud has a silver lining. Remember that God has a (good) purpose in every hardship. Look for that light in the darkness. It may be just a faintly glowing ember, but it is there.
Today I challenge you to "light the candle instead of curse the darkness" and choose to hope.
