HOPE

HOPE

I was asked to paint a picture during the worship time in a Church we were ministering at the other day. As I thought about what to paint, one word came to mind – the word “hope”. At first I was a bit taken aback as I wondered “how on earth do I portray hope?”. So I just started getting paint onto the canvas knowing I would be guided as I went.

As I painted I thought about what the word “hope” meant. To paint “hope” meant I had to also paint the stuff life is made of – the stuff in which we sometimes find ourselves needing hope – health, finances, jobs, family – all these and more can be areas where we need fresh hope – I would use colours to portray the emotional feeling of these. I knew I didn’t want to paint a real situation but to do something abstract, something conceptual that could be read differently by different viewers, allowing them to feel the emotional substance of hope.

As I thought about ‘hope’ I realized that worldly hope is fragile – it’s a wishful thinking type of hope with no real guarantee of anything good really happening. Scripturally hope is far different – the hope God gives is robust, strong, guarantees supply, and turns any situation into something beautiful. In scripture hope isn’t wishful thinking, its confident joyful expectation of something good about to happen.

It is a joyful expectation that something good is going to happen for you because God is good. Scriptural hope boldly delivers, and it comes with the guarantee of God himself behind it. Hope isn’t just an idea, a concept, it has spiritual substance that goes to work within us, and it’s also found in a person – Christ! Christ is our hope and he is our guarantee of hope.

So in the painting the first couple of layers represents the “stuff” we go through in life so it is all sorts of colours, some dark and heavy, some light and joyful. yellow, green, yellow ochre, prussian blue, slivers of magenta, purple and some gold leaf. A lot of those colours no-one will ever see but they are there just as in life -there’s stuff people see and there’s underlying stuff; but the underlying stuff lays down the foundation for the seen to be built on. The top layers are done in white, cream, yellow ochre and little flecks of gold. This top layer represents both hope and glory overlaying all else causing the underlaying layers to become something beautiful – it represents God’s hope at work within us – making all things work together for good – coming together to present something beautiful, full of depth and rich in the fullness of Christ’s life within us. “Christ in us, the hope of glory” – Col 1:27

making your dreams your reality – part 2

“Dream Book” series – post 3

Making your dreams your reality – part 2

This is the third entry in the “Dream Book” series of posts the first post can be read here and the second one read here.

Make a plan – be strategic and intentional  – what is the process needed to achieving your goal, what steps do you need to take. Maybe seek guidance or counsel from others who have achieved their dreams, do you need a mentor or coach to help you get there?

Think long-term but have mid-term goals as well. Dreams don’t come to fruition overnight, it’ll take time and effort to fulfil your dream. Don’t look for short cuts; allow the process to happen because along the way you’ll learn valuable lessons. Do make mid-range goals as well. What are some things that will show you that you are making progress and are do-able in the short term. Reward yourself when you achieve them.

Be disciplined. There will probably be a time when you wonder if it’s worth it but your dream is waiting for you and discipline will help you get there when enthusiasm fades while laziness will sabotage your dream.

Be your own best friend. The person you listen to most is yourself. What do you tell yourself? Are you kind to yourself or are you always beating up on yourself? Ditch the negative self-talk.

Make sure you keep healthy. This is important, bad dietary and exercise habits sap your strength. Find out what gives you energy and what takes it away. Write them down. Do one and avoid the other.

 Stay grateful. A couple of days a week make a list of 5 things you are grateful for or that touched you. Say thank you to the people involved, say thank you to God.

Choose a life of service. Make it a habit to invest in others, help someone on their way and someday someone will help you on your way. Encourage others in their dreams.

What are some of the things that may stop you achieving your dream?

Holding onto the past – past failures in things you’ve tried or even past successes can sometimes stop us moving forward. Past failures can make us doubt our abilities and ourselves and past successes can be hard to let go of because we may fear losing what we’ve already got.

Failure to continue to learn and grow will stifle your success. Not just in your chosen area – keep abreast of developments in the world and learn new things. If nothing else it’ll keep your brain healthy.

Lack of vision – thinking you’re doing okay and that you don’t need to change anything may be a slow killer but it will kill your dreams.

Willingness to bow to other people’s reason – there will always be people who will disagree with your dreams, don’t let their opinions negate yours; they are not in control of your future you are!

 An uncontrolled thought life – keep control of your thought life – it has even more power to stop you achieving your dream than circumstances do. Keep negative thoughts in check. Develop a positive attitude.

 Inability to discipline the things you say both internally and externally can influence your ability to achieve your dreams even if for no other reason than people don’t like being around people that don’t discipline their speech. Both swearing and gossip can and will affect your colleague’s ability to trust you especially in business and serving people.

I hope these tips help towards making your dreams your reality. Have fun dreaming, making your Dream Book and working towards making your dreams come true.