When everything changes, when uncertainty comes and when things begin to move outside of our control, the question of where we place our hope comes to the forefront. Our hope is only as good as the one in whom we choose to entrust it.

When your circumstances shift, when you feel out of control, when money isn’t there, when things are not going the way that you thought that they would, where do you turn? And what does your mind and heart feel/do?

I am challenged by this phrase “Jesus is our only hope,” as theologically I agree, however, in the ways that I pray, live, and interact with others, I recognized that Jesus is not always the direction to which my hope is oriented. When I pray, do I ask for alternate solutions, or believe that Jesus is the best and only hope for that circumstance? When I talk with others and listen for the Spirit’s direction, do I offer Jesus as the source of hope for what they are facing? In my own life, do I trust in myself first, and Jesus second?

As one who is dearly loved, we need to learn how to live into and become all that He has declared that we are in Him! That is a lot. As we come into agreement with this reality of how He sees us, and begin to apprentice Him and walk with Him in faith, we become the kind of person that He created us to be, and we increasingly represent and demonstrate who He is and what He is like through our lives.

We usually describe someone or something based on our experience, awareness, senses, and impressions. This can be further informed from other people’s experiences, awareness, senses, and impressions. And, we also have the testimonies of those who encountered him in the Gospels left to us through stories, experiences, and descriptions that define our understanding of what he was and is like.

What you focus on in your mind will be either true messages that are empowering you to walk in freedom and wholeness in your faith, or have the opposite effect of leading you into oppression, confusion, and potentially, spiritual bondage. What we think about—how we think about ourselves, God and others—and what we choose to take hold of and believe really matters.  

God brings His renewing presence and love into our lives to transform and bring to completion the work that only He can do. But this also requires us to desire renewal, to count the cost, to surrender our whole selves to him in trust of his goodness, faithfulness and love.

In the days between Christmas and New Year’s, it seems there is an intrinsic opportunity to pause and reflect on the year that was and to consider the year that is about to begin. A space between.