Tuesday, July 29
- Scripture: Romans 12:12 – “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
- Reflection: We return to the concept of cultivating resilience and hope. God created us as people of hope. We are asked to resist despair, and cultivate the capacity to believe, to grow resilient, to adapt to difficult circumstances, and to discover how we can transform the world, one step at a time. Yet we aren’t asked to do this alone, rather in connection with Godself and a compassionate, sustainable community,
A Forbes article offers practical advice. “So how can you cultivate hope? There are five tactics that work best. (full article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2024/09/15/how-being-hopeful-reduces-stress/) :- Be Grateful: Gratitude helps you focus on what you have—fostering a sense of satisfaction and abundance…. it reminds you of what’s working, what’s going well and what you already possess. All of this provides a firm foundation for looking toward the future. Pro tip: Gratitude tends to be most impactful when you make it a daily ritual. For example, when you get out of bed in the morning or go to bed at night, reflect on what you’re grateful for. In addition, gratitude has the biggest benefits when you focus on being grateful for relationships, challenges, opportunities to learn, experiences and the like. It tends to be less impactful when you’re grateful for material possessions.
- Manage Your Expectations: If you plan that things will be perfect, you’ll be perpetually disappointed and stressed about all you’re not achieving. On the other hand, when your expectations are both positive and realistic, you’ll experience greater satisfaction—which will in turn keep you hopeful and motivated to keep going … A stress-free, problem-free life isn’t realistic. If you’re not failing sometimes, you’re probably not trying hard enough—and if you’re not happy every moment, it doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. Be realistic in knowing that stress is part of life, and you’ll have ups as well as downs.
- Think Long Term:First, reflect on what’s most important to you and set goals for where you want to go. Keeping a longer time horizon in mind can help you get past the small impediments that you’re likely to encounter.
- Stay Agile: You’ll also stay more hopeful when you have confidence in your ability to grow, learn and improve. … with a growth mindset, you know you can always get better—working to improve your skills, your actions or your execution to achieve the ends you want. Also remember that tough times help you build your resilience muscles. … While you wouldn’t purposely choose difficult situations, you can use them to grow and improve.
- Embrace Your People: An additional way to stay hopeful is to spend more time around people who are positive and optimistic themselves. Of course, you appreciate your friends who are more critical or play devil’s advocate, but choose to spend the majority of time around people who energize you and motivate you to think hard, look forward and dream big.
- Spiritual Practice Prompt: Practice a simple prayer of hope and gratitude at different points during the day—perhaps morning, midday, and evening.
Song:
- “Hope Has a Name” by River Valley Worship: https://youtu.be/ezowVsEa9ac?si=TiBMArArdX7ZBj72
Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be. ― Shel Silverstein
July 29 Daily Devotional