Let Your Choices Reflect Your Hopes

There are times in life where we want to do things yet we allow our fears to hold us back. Often will have choices to make and instead of being led by hope, we choose to let our fears lead us. When hope is our compass, we can go far in life as it can be a tremendous driving force. Hope can take us places we never imagined. It can guide us beyond our neighborhoods, beyond the boundaries of the state that we grow up in, and even out of the country that we call home. We can get very comfortable in familiar surroundings, but when we have hope, we will abandon all fear and stretch beyond our comfort zones and explore unchartered territories.

Remember that God called Abraham to abandon the familiar and set out for a land he had never seen. In order to do that, Abraham had to put his hope and his faith in God. He became the father of many nations when he had yet to father one. It was credited unto him as righteousness. What if he had given into doubt and abandoned all hope? Where would we be today?

Noah was challenged to build an ark in preparation prepare for the floods when there had never before been rain on the earth. He put his hope in God and did as he was instructed day by day. He was laughed at and ridiculed, but when the rains finally came, he and his family were saved. What if he had operated in fear of being left out and alone? Instead, he put his hope in God and the rest the is history.

Are we brave enough to go against the tide and the popular and stand alone? Or does our fear drive us to the familiar and the comfortable? Do we risk our future for the familiar and the stability of what we already know? We are called to make choices every day. Some of them are huge and some of them are so small that they seem almost insignificant. Yet God says, “I set before you life and death; choose life.” He gives us a test and He gives us the answer. It’s always an open book test because we have our own Owners Manual; all we have to do is read it and study it and then commit it to heart.

Don’t let fear drive your decisions. Study your Owners Manual and stay in hope. It is impossible to fail with God on your side.