The simple truth about life is that things come our way all the time that create challenges. Are these challenges problems or opportunities? A renewed mind understands that there aren't any problems in heaven and if we took "heaven's perspective" we would realize that God has a solution for all things. Finding God's solutions starts with right believing which in turn raises our level of hope. A hopeless situation is a Godless situation, so how does God see our lives and circumstance? I have to be honest, I have a hope i.v. supernaturally injected in my veins. All my life I’ve been that person to see things half full and just believe that something good would come out of a big mess that could be staring me straight in the eye. Even when I’ve found myself in situations I created that were seemingly “hopeless”, I still believed good things could come out of it. I’ve been told this was resilience and determination. I’ve decided it’s relentless hope and a gift from Heaven that I've chosen to partner with. I’ve been trying to crawl into the eye of God all of my life to see situations the way He sees them and I believe that He’s given me that exact opportunity, to live a life full of relentless hope.
My current perspective is setting up my future experiences.
What we believe about God shows up pretty quick when we’re in crisis. I can remember back in ’04 I suffered a pretty serious sports injury. I took a line drive in the face while playing softball. I was diagnosed as having a tripod fracture with an orbital blowout. It’s a common hockey injury for all you Red Wings fans (Steve Yzerman had a similar injury the same month in the ‘04 Stanley Cup Semi-finals) reading. It’s a brutal injury to say the least. At the point of injury and coming aware of what had actually happened, I started asking myself questions like if I would be able to see again, if my face would be marred all my life etc. It’s funny how quick these things roll through your mind. I knew I was helpless as I lay there on the ground waiting for the ambulance. I decided that the best thing I could do was to welcome Holy Spirit and I began to speak in tongues and releasing peace over myself. (When we speak in tongues we edify our human spirit!) The guys were all gathered around me and pretty concerned. I remember them asking what I was saying and one guy telling me afterward that he was touched so much by my desire to rely on Holy Spirit in that moment while navigating all the wide emotions. Even in my injured state I was setting the tone that Papa God was present and we had the opportunity to be aware of Him. His hope was my reality because I knew the truth about my situation before finding myself in it. The truth was - God was greater.
Hope is qualified by truth and truth is centered on who He is.
My level of hope is completely connected to how much I’m willing to see things according to His perspective. I mentioned in a recent post I wrote that while we don’t ever want to be focused on our spiritual enemy, it is a reality that we have an enemy who is looking to steal, kill and destroy. His greatest tactics are found in deception or rather seeing things according to his perspective. Our foundation of truth is essential in living a life of hope in all things. While most Christians would say that they believe the bible, it’s a radical choice to put how the bible teaches us to think in motion. Many believers try to just find a scripture they think is the exact situation they are in and whatever outcome there is in scripture will be their outcome. I don’t believe scripture always teaches us specifically what to think as much as it teaches us how to think. This is a mature perspective that allows us to live out truth in the greater context of God’s nature rather than in the limitation of a few examples of peoples lives before us.
What would it look like to have relentless hope for our circumstances?
What if the problems or challenges in your life are an invitation to experience God’s goodness toward you? If God’s nature allows Him to be all knowing and also the provider at the same time, it sounds like this would be the recipe for unlimited breakthrough. While God isn't in the business of enabling problematic cycles in our lives, He is a good father who loves to see His children succeed. Part of that success is what we're able to get from Him that we can't be for ourselves and the other is what is developed in us by going through the circumstance. It's not about enduring hardship, it's the opportunity to experience who He is and see things the way He sees them. The more we become like Him, the higher our hope becomes. The greater the breakthrough in our lives, the more benefit there is even for the people around us.
What is the truth about your situation?
Once again, what you believe about your circumstance will easily define the result. What is God’s hope level for situation, your life and your relationships? How does God see it? What if your level of hope matched your heavenly father’s? What could become possible? Let’s believe God’s best, take the risk of living a radical hope filled life, believing we are never alone and will never be forsaken. I would recommend Steve Backlund's devotional book Higher Perspectives. It's full of truth relating specifically on how to overcome hopeless situations. Life comes out of the tongue and we say what we believe. In the devotional, Steve does a great job creating declarations that match our believe system and these declarations will change your life. Let HOPE rise
