Hope

[Dr. Shane]

I love the fact that the Adventist TV channel was named The Hope Channel.  Hope is an interesting emotional.  It takes some sort of problem or challenge to cause a person to hope.  People that have hope, especially a lot of hope, tend to focus on things in life that they can change and simply accept the things they cannot without worrying too much about them.  When bad things happen to hope-filled people, not only do they recover from them, they often use such things as a springboard for growth.  

Let's consider some of the habits and thinking of hope-filled people.  First, they set goals and go about achieving them in little steps.  The journey of one thousand miles starts with a single step.  They also create small milestones along the way.  Next, they also "stick with the winners".  That means they interact with positive people and limit their exposure to negative people.  In addition, they also avoid dwelling on the past or dreaming too much about the future.  They enjoy today.  They understand that life isn't about the destination but it is about the journey getting there.  Finally, they also practice introspection.  They take inventory of themselves.  They look at both the good and the bad and most importantly, they forgive themselves for mistakes they have made.

A hope-filled person knows how to take lemons and make lemonade.  They look at the bight side of things.  They don't ignore the bad but they don't let it have control over them.  The Christian worldview promotes the concept of a hope-filled life.  Our problem and our challenge is that we live in a sin-filled world.  We live on a dying planet.  Everything is broken.  Nothing is perfect as it was in the Garden of Eden before the fall.  Our hope is in a risen Savior who has conquered sin, provides us power through the Holy Spirit and is returning soon to take us to our new home.