Get Your Hopes Up!: Expect Something Good to Happen to You Every Day (6 page)

Maybe you’re reading this chapter and you’re painfully aware of the times you’ve messed up while taking a step in the past. Maybe there were opportunities when you set out with great intentions, excited to take bold steps and really make things happen, but they didn’t work out. If that’s how you’re feeling, I can certainly understand where you’re coming from. There have been many days when I tried my best, but instead of making things better, I felt like I actually made things worse. I think we all have experienced days like that. But we shouldn’t let the failures in our past keep us from trying again in the future.

God knows we have limitations and shortcomings. Our failures don’t surprise Him, and they don’t keep Him from working in our lives. As a matter of fact, God will often use our limitations to showcase His power. I came across a story that illustrates what I mean:

Like that cracked pot, you too can accomplish wonderful things. It doesn’t matter that you have flaws and limitations. Don’t let what you perceive to be a weakness keep you from taking bold steps inspired by hope. 2 Corinthians 12:10 says: “… When I am weak [in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful in divine
strength).” Isn’t that comforting to know? Even when you’re weak, you’re strong because God is with you. He is using every part of your life—even the cracks—to create something beautiful.

Hope is exciting because you have a part to play. You don’t have to sit back, just waiting for an answer to fall from the sky. You can take your hopes to God, ask Him for His wisdom, guidance, and direction, and then take real and practical steps toward your goal. It doesn’t matter how difficult the task may seem or what odds are stacked against you; let hope stir you to action, one day at a time. In addition to obediently doing what you feel God is leading you to do, you can aggressively thank God that He is working in your life. You can always maintain a positive attitude and speak positive words out of your mouth. You can recall other victories you have had in your life in the past and be encouraged by them. Victory will require determination and discipline, but the results will be dynamic. So go ahead and get your hopes up. God helped David defeat a giant. He can do the same for you.

Change isn’t easy—even good change takes some getting used to. When God changes us, it takes time for us to become confident that we really have changed. The apostle Paul knew that was true.

When we think of Paul, we think of a spiritual giant, author of much of the New Testament. When someone stands up in church and says, “Let’s read what Paul said in Romans,” or “As Paul said in the book of Galatians…” no one questions it. But there was a time when Paul was a guy everyone questioned. He wasn’t the great apostle; he was just a man with a new name and a bad reputation:
Pharisee of Pharisees. Persecutor of the early church. Someone who can’t be trusted
. So I wonder if there was an adjustment period—a time when Paul felt more like Saul than Paul. I wonder if it took time for Paul to let go of Saul. I wonder if he ever shook someone’s hand and said, “Hi. I’m Saul… er… um… I mean, Paul. I’m Paul.”

Most women who have been married know a name change can require some getting used to. You were Mary Smith, but now you’re Mary Styborski. You used to be Sally Jones, but now you’re Sally Rigglestein. It takes time to get comfortable with a new name, but keep in mind, Paul was dealing with more than just a name change—Paul was embracing a change of heart and nature as well. Imagine him saying
“Hi. I’m Paul. I’m a follower of Jesus now. I’d like to tell you about Him.”
People must have looked at this Christian-persecuting-Pharisee-turned-preacher and thought
Wait a second. This is that Saul guy. I’ve heard about him. He persecutes and arrests Christians… I don’t trust him and I find it hard to believe he has really changed!

While we can only speculate how random people on the streets reacted to Paul’s new identity, the Bible tells us exactly how the disciples reacted—they didn’t buy it. They weren’t convinced Paul was a new man. Acts 9:26 says: “And when [Paul] had arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to associate himself with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe he really was a disciple.” It’s only because Barnabas stood before the disciples and vouched for Paul’s character that they even considered accepting him. Of course, we know they eventually did, and the rest of the story is biblical history. But there is one phrase in the previous verse that I want to call to your attention: “They did not believe he really was a disciple.” The only thing that could make that phrase more tragic is if it said: Paul
did not believe he really was a disciple
.

You see, Paul couldn’t control what the disciples thought. Barnabas had to talk to the disciples, and God had to change their hearts. That was all out of Paul’s hands. The only thing Paul could control was his own attitude. Truth be told, it probably didn’t matter what everybody else believed. What really mattered was what
Paul
believed. If he never embraced the new person he was in Christ, he would never have lived out his destiny. Can you imagine Paul walking around thinking
I wish I could travel and preach the Word of God.
That’s what is in my heart to do. But I was a persecutor of the church. I’ll always be Saul
. Or if he thought
I got a late start in life. There’s no way I can do all the things I wish I could do for God. I was Saul for way too long
. If that had been his attitude, Paul would have been miserable, and he would not have accomplished all God had for him to do.

But once God began working in his life, Paul understood that he was no longer Saul, so he stopped living like Saul. He no longer thought like a Pharisee, talked like a Pharisee, or acted like a Pharisee. Things were different now. He had been changed. He had been given hope. And he chose to act like it.

It was Paul who, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote:

Paul was full of hope, and he was excited about his life because “the fresh and new” had come—he now had a “new nature in Christ Jesus.” Paul no longer walked around thinking, speaking, worrying, working, and acting like Saul. He had been changed. Paul embraced the new things God was doing in his life, the new opportunities that were before him, and the new person God had destined him to be.

What was true in Paul’s life is true in your life as well. You too are a “new creation [the result of a new birth and a new nature in Christ Jesus],” and you too can experience that “the fresh and new has come.” You’re not the person you used to be. God has done so much in your life—He has changed you. I am sure that, like me, you are a long way from perfect, but I am also sure that you have made progress and that you have come a long way toward positive change. If you were to stop and think about who you used to be—the things you used to struggle with—you’d get pretty excited about how far God has brought you.

My husband, Dave, was talking to me just this morning about a man he plays golf with. This man shared with Dave that his wife, although a Christian, has never gotten over her abusive childhood. Over the years she has had mental and emotional problems and is now having lots of physical problems due to the internal stress she lives under. As Dave and I talked about it and discussed why some people with the exact same past get completely well, while others do not, we both came to the same conclusion. In order to recover from the pain of the past, we must truly believe that we are new creatures in Christ. We must completely let go of the old people that we were and learn to live the resurrection life that Jesus has provided. We must stop identifying with the sinful, wounded, or abused person that we used to be and start identifying with the new person God has made us in Christ.

In the life of the believer, hope is rooted in the understanding that God changes things. Change, rebirth, transformation: This is the good news of the Gospel. On your own, you were lost, broken, far from God, and without hope. But because of His great love, God
sent Jesus so you could be found, healed, reconciled to Him, and your hope could be restored. Salvation is about change—change made possible because of God’s love for you and for me.

Not only is salvation about change, but your daily walk with God is too. All through Scripture, whenever individuals had an encounter with God, change occurred. Abram became Abraham (see Genesis 17:5). Sarai became Sarah (see Genesis 17:15). Jacob became Israel (see Genesis 32:28). Simon became Peter (see John 1:42). Saul became Paul (see Acts 13:9). And it’s not just names that changed—the direction of people’s lives changed. A shepherd became a king. A fugitive became a nation’s leader. Fishermen became disciples. A Pharisee became an apostle.

But it’s important to notice that, along with Paul, when God brought about change in the lives of these men and women, they embraced the new people God created them to be. David didn’t walk around with a shepherd boy’s mentality; he embraced his role as king. Moses no longer hid in fear from Pharaoh; he boldly declared, “Let my people go!” Peter was no longer afraid; he stood up and preached to thousands on the Day of Pentecost. Each person embraced what God had done—and what He was doing—in their lives… and so can you. As a matter of fact, if you don’t embrace it, you will always struggle and live on a low level of life, far from the exciting, powerful life that is yours in Jesus.

Let me ask you: Do you believe God loves you unconditionally? Do you believe ALL your sins are forgiven? Do you believe you are a new creature with a new heart and spirit? Have you accepted yourself? Do you like yourself? Do you believe the future holds exciting things for you?

If you do believe these things, then let me congratulate you because you are well on your way to amazingly good things. If you don’t believe these things, then it is time to study God’s Word until you do. Believe the promises in God’s Word more than you believe how you feel, and don’t ever give up until you have victory. Renew
your mind to new creation realities. Things like you are the righteousness of God in Christ! You are justified and sanctified through the blood of Jesus! You have God-given talents and abilities! God lives in you and He will never leave you or forsake you! When you realize you are a new person, you have a new hope.

The person you used to be, the mistakes you used to make, the unjust things that have happened to you, the struggles you used to go through—those things don’t have to hold you back any longer. Don’t walk around telling yourself
I have an anger problem. I just can’t control my temper
. No, that was the old you. God has changed you inside, and you are being transformed by His power within you. You are now a person full of the peace and joy of the Lord. Embrace that person. We start by believing the good news of the Gospel, and then we renew our minds by studying God’s Word, and we start living in the reality of the new person we are in Christ.

Instead of going through life with a victim mentality, telling yourself
Well, I just can’t trust anyone. I can never have a healthy relationship because of the dysfunction of my past
, or
I am no good
, embrace the healing power of God in your life. You are a new person. He is healing every wound and restoring what you lost. In fact, He is going to give you double blessings for the things that were taken from you (see Isaiah 61:7). If you were hurt in the past, that doesn’t make you a victim for the rest of your life. You can overcome that pain and live an overcoming, victorious life. You are a new creation in Christ, full of new strength and new hope. Remember, your history is not your destiny!

You can confidently go through each day knowing you’re stronger than you used to be, because every day God is doing a great work in your life. That
doesn’t mean you’ve accomplished everything you want to accomplish, and it doesn’t mean you do everything perfectly now, but it does mean you can have a new hope. A hope that inspires you to say, like Paul: “Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own” (Philippians 3:12).

Don’t spend another day saying “I can’t do it,” “I won’t make it,” or “I’m not good enough.” Those are hopeless words. Maybe those things described the old you, but they certainly don’t describe the new you in Christ. You are a child of God. You are more than a conqueror. You are the head and not the tail. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.