7 Principles that will Keep us in Hope during the Storm

As I was walking through these long-term perplexing problems in my life a few years ago and even recently again encountering some storms coming my way, I began to realize although it is never easy to walk through these times it is possible to walk through them with joy, peace and Hope most of the time.

As I was preparing to speak at a conference at the beginning of the year, and was praying for God to give me a message of hope to the woman I would be speaking to. I was at my bank and I felt a prompting to get a piece of paper out and began to write. Of course all I had was a receipt slip but that was good enough. I pulled the car over and I these principles began to pour out on my paper. God was giving me the principles that I had, without putting them on paper, been using in the last few years to not just survive the storm but to be full of Hope, peace and faith during the storm.

So here are those principles as He gave them to me. They are not things we do not already know but when we apply them during our storms we will see not only God give us peace and hope but also we will begin to see God move in our situations

1. Begin by looking at the condition of our heart: to deal with and resolve with any unforgiveness, whether it was from past hurts or present hurts. Matt 6:14, Matt 18:21

• to learn to be content in whatever situation I was in. Phil 4:11, I Tim.
• to let go of pride in my life, my situations helped me quite abit to do this.
• to have faith in the face of impossible circumstance
• to develop and even embrace the fruit of the spirit such as patience (not one of my best qualities) longsuffering and all the rest in Gal 5:22, 23

2. We need to be in the presence of God Everyday: Psalm 63:1-8

Ways to do this:

• Pray God’s Word with thanks, tell Him your heart
• Reflect, journal, pray, take a walk, beach
• Listen to worship music, schedule regular quiet time
• Examine - check your heart on a regular basis for any of the items in #1

3. We need to be in the Word everyday: Psalm 130:5, Romans 15:4 (nlt)

Some ways I did this:

· Reading the Word – Look for scriptures that give hope and encouragement

· Memorizing – Pick a couple very specific scripture, put on index cards

· Studying – Do word studies on Hope, God’s Love and God’s Names

· Meditating - Take all of the above and think on these things in the morning and in the evening and throughout the day

4. We need to keep the “negatives” out of our lives as much as possible:

· Negative thoughts

· Negative people

· Negative attitude

Make a choice to be positive in all things…. Roman’s 5:3, James 1:2

5. We need to ask for help and give help: I Thess 5:11

· Let your friends and family be there for you. (don’t isolate).

· Stay involved in life and with other people even when you don’t feel like it.

· Ask regularly for prayer.

· Encourage, Pray and Help others needing hope

· Share your story

· God will and can use you even in the mist of your difficulties

6. We need to look for the Purpose: 1 Peter 1:6,7, James 2:2, Gen. 50:20

· It’s Ok to ask WHY?

· Look - for God’s plan

· Listen – to God’s voice

· Learn – what God is doing in you through this trial.

“My Grace is all you need My power works best in weakness.

7. We need to have a thankful heart: I Thess. 5:19

Focus of what’s working for you instead of what it not.

· Notice the small things

· Get a notebook and pen, write down things thoughout the day you are thankful

· Write down at least 3 Thank you a day

Next Post: Vacation in North Carolina!