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2014, beauty for ashes, Bible, birth, change, Chronicles, defining hope, effective prayer, faith and prayer, God, Hope, hopelessness, Jabez, new beginnings, new life, New Year, New Year's resolutions, Old Testament, past and future, prayer life, Prayer of Jabez, searching for hope, turn around
It is a new year and with it comes great expectations–plenty of optimism and hope. But what will all your hoping bring?
While hope is a wonderful thing, it can also be so intangible that it slips away. Poof!!!! A here today but gone tomorrow kind of hope seldom produces results. In order to thrive hope must be steady and strong not whimsical or flighty. Hope is not bi-polar. Hope is not designed to be compulsive or obsessive.
A vibrant, healthy hope has to be nurtured and fed and manicured and grown. Hope can be stubborn and rebellious or it can be flexible or it can be compliant. It helps to get a handle on it; to nail it down and to define what it really means before it grows wings and flies away leaving you hopeless or bitter, lost or confused.
Truly–who wants to spend another year chasing hope? The key is simple–define it early and clearly. Otherwise it just may become an illusive butterfly. Oh my . . .
Hope is a such grande term. It is a “skies the limit” type of verbiage. There are so many kinds of hope–which one is best?
Must I really pick just one kind of hope without paying homage to the rest?
Hope is one of those words which we toss around haphazardly–often without thinking. At times we diminish its potential because we either don’t believe or don’t take it seriously enough to go after it like we must in order to see it grow into its full potential.
We too often take hope for granted.
We know hope multiplies and at times it can even be contagious but we fail to realize that in order for that to happen we must become hope-bearers. We neglect our duty and then act surprised when hopelessness spreads faster than hope. I believe the root of the problem stems from our lack of definition and our failure to be specific when it comes to our own hope.
If you could choose, what would you hope for–what kind of hope would you want? I would choose a Jabez-kind of hope.
Say what?
Jabez is a biblical character found in the Book of Chronicles in the Old Testament of the Bible. He is an obscure man who obtained his namesake because he was born in pain.
So I’m thinking we all were born into pain because child-birth is painful. Taking this concept a step further, I also consider that we all anticipate turning points in our lives when we can leave our painful past behind and enter into a new and more hopeful future. This is one of those times. Our turning point is 2014 and the new year is a great time to gain a new perspective on hope.
The interesting thing about the life of Jabez is how God turned his painful past into a new life of victory just because he cried out a very simple but heartfelt plea.
When Jabez prayed, he didn’t ramble vague requests. He didn’t drag out his request. He didn’t use formulas or rituals. He didn’t turn his prayer life into some fad or hoopla.
Jabez simply made his request clear, concise and sincere:
Oh Lord, bless me indeed and expand my territory. Keep Your hand on me, and keep evil from me, that I may not cause pain!’
And with that, God granted his request.
There is a tie and a place for all types of prayer. Sometimes we must pray on bended knee. Sometimes it takes wailing and great travail. Sometimes it takes tears and sometimes it takes shouting. Sometimes silence is required.
Through Jabez we learn the art of simplicity and clarity.
Although the story of Jabez took place over 3.000 years ago, the impact can still be relevant today. In our own obscurity we can make our prayer to God specific and simple and, in doing so, we can turn whatever seems hopeless into a clear and attainable hope.