Looking Back with Gratitude, Looking Ahead with Hope - The Crosswalk Devotional - December 29
Looking Back with Gratitude, Looking Ahead with Hope
By: Peyton Garland
Bible Reading:
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
Christianity is always easier when it’s comfortable, right? When there’s no church drama, your marriage isn’t bumpy, or the children aren’t in a rebellious season. When everyone’s health is clear, the savings account is full, and the boss is flexible. But when are all of these life avenues simultaneously smooth? When is life ever not life—the chaos, the calamity, the confusion? When we read Scripture, did any of God’s people have it easy? Moses didn’t, Esther didn’t, David didn’t, and Jesus certainly didn’t.
I believe that our pursuit of a comfortable life is the reason we gravitate towards certain Bible verses and willingly cut out the remaining context. We don’t mind discussing when Moses parted the waters, when Esther was crowned Queen, when David defeated Goliath, and when Jesus resurrected. But we too easily neglect when Moses died in the wilderness, when Esther risked her life for her people, when David’s sin caught up with him, and when Jesus was nailed to a cross to carry the sins of an ungrateful world.
Jeremiah 29:11 is another perfect example of our desperate pursuit to polish the Christian experience. Glancing at this isolated verse, you could argue for an easy-going prosperity gospel. But Jeremiah 29:14 reveals that God’s people receive this promise in captivity. They aren’t comfortable but desperate. Their hope is wary, waning. So what do they make of a promise that seems impossible?
They choose hope. They choose faith. Hope and faith aren’t easy. They certainly aren’t comfortable because they require us to practice what we don’t want to and to believe in what we don’t feel. Hope and faith are rarely instinctual. That’s what makes them spiritual disciplines. So if your heart is heavy and tumultuous, if your life has been plagued with the worst twists and turns, you are in the perfect position to welcome hope and faith into your new year.
God promises us a beautiful future on the other side of hard times, but we will never appreciate, let alone recognize, His blessings if we don’t choose to pursue God’s hope and faith in our challenging circumstances. To cultivate hope and faith is to invite God to change your perspective. It’s a chance to become more like Christ in both His suffering and His glory (Romans 8:17).
In my book Tired, Hungry, & Kinda Faithful, I dig into this idea a bit deeper:
Allow God to root his purpose in your soul in a land where you once believed growth impossible… Perhaps it is time to pledge allegiance to a God we are still wary of, and in that process—no matter how wild and scary and challenging—we learn to love him in a gentler, surer way. This way grasps the good kind of love that he designed in the first place—even if Love never promises to stop the hard times but invites us to thrive amid them. And from such a purifying journey, perhaps we will genuinely love others, and deep down, we will come to call our desert a well of hope.
It’s natural to create barriers to block God out when it seems the Christian life offers little reprieve for our minds, bodies, and souls. However, how can we ever have true hope, faith, and even joy if we shun the very source of these things?
How will we appreciate the opportunities that wait for us in the future if we don’t adopt a heart of gratitude for God’s providence, grace, mercy, and sovereignty in the present, no matter our circumstances?
Embrace a heart of thankfulness for the God who grants us hope and faith, and surrender your longing for the shallow, smooth-sailing life that offers little sustenance for the soul. Step into this new year confident in the character of a God whose goodness never wavers and whose promises are always sure.
Intersecing Faith & Life:
Make a list of the relationships or opportunities where you haven’t left room for God to work. Have you boxed God out because of past disappointments or because you think you can handle things on your own? How does this shape (or even manipulate) your definition of hope and faith? Ask God to rid you of any false notions you have regarding hope and faith, and allow Him room to work in your life to cultivate the beautiful future He has in store.
Further Reading:
Jeremiah 29
A Few Modern Thoughts on the Land of Milk and Honey
How did today’s devotional speak to you? Share your thoughts in the Crosswalk Devotional discussion.
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