dark clouds

It seems to me that many people are living their lives these days surrounded by negativity. I think they are taking their cues from a society that puts too much emphasis on money. Because our economy is in bad shape (compared to what it used to be, not compared to most of the rest of the world), they act as though the whole world is going to hell tomorrow.

If your eyes are on money and you don’t have enough, you will get discouraged. Discouragement unchecked leads to feelings of hopelessness. Feelings of hopelessness are poisonous and they are contagious.

Believers in Christ cannot be hopeless. Faith in Jesus, and giving up, cannot coexist. Jesus gives us hope. He is Hope. It may seem heartless to rebuke the hopeless. If one’s despair is connected to finances, the answer is simple: Jesus said, “you can’t serve God and money- take your pick” (very loose translation). If you worship money, get ready to be hopeless. If you serve God, hope will be abundant.

Today, in a great consulting session with Dr. Fred Garmon of People For Care And Learning and Leader Labs, Inc., I heard a good definition of hope. Fred says: “Hope is the awakening of the human soul that life can be better than this.” A marvelous definition.

If you trust Jesus, you have to believe that, no matter what you are facing, life can be better than this. Jesus did not say that It would get better by us getting rich. He did say that He would give you The Kingdom. How’s that for hope?

Let hope blow away your clouds of doubt.