Swapping Misplaced and Dashed Hope for Better Days

I don’t know about you, but I really would like to have a whole string of great days in a row. Unfortunately, I’ve gotten into this nasty habit of gauging a day by how cooperative the children were, by how many things I could cross of the "to do" list, whether I found a great deal shopping or if I feel slim, energetic and sexy or bloated, greasy, and gray haired. I started to meditate on this emotional roller coaster and God convicted me of a spiritual virus in my pattern of thinking called misplaced hope.
To a large degree, barring Job like circumstances, lousy days are the result of misplaced hopes and expectations. The day went as my misplaced expectations went and so followed the roller coaster of emotions. The key to long strings of good days is identifying the misplaced hopes and expectations and properly placing them back where they belong, on God.
This viral pattern of misplaced hopes focused its target in three large areas: self, others and things/ideas. By design, all of these false targets will eventually leave us feeling short-changed. Regardless of whether they are intentionally or unintentionally elevated above our hope in God, they become idols, and idols are designed to disappoint, because God is most concerned about the intimacy of our relationship with Him.
Misplaced hope in self leaves us feeling self-condemnation, self-conscious, burnt out, inferior or proud. Misplaced hope in others leads to anger, unforgiveness, co-dependency or feeling trapped. Misplaced hope in something or idea leads to debt, stress (due to lack of time), and/or exhaustion (due to lack of rest and genuine refreshment).
Replacing misplaced hope for the real article happens in a process. First you have to recognize a counterfeit hope. Here are a few verses for helping with that.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.
Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
John 7:37-38 In the last day, that great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Proverbs 13:10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised [is] wisdom
Matthew 5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee: Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother; and then come and offer thy gift.
Matthew 19:6 Wherefore they are no more twain (two), but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder (separate).
Misplaced hope in others can lead to bitterness, unforgiveness, strife, divorce etc..
What Jesus gives is rest, peace, refreshment, and life. However, if the thief has duped us onto buying into false hope, we feel empty, stressed, fearful and exhausted. Misplaced hopes give the thief, Satan, room to sow despair, destruction, death.
Try filling in the blank.
My _____ (children, house, job, finances, schedule, body, marriage, etc…) gives me stress.
Don’t dwell here. Just acknowledge where God puts his conviction of misplaced hope and confess it to Him.
1 Thessalonians 5:24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do it.
In plain English this means, if God wants you to do it, He will do it by the enabling power of His Holy Spirit through you. Perhaps there are some areas of life that you know you are supposed to do (legalism/law), I mean called to, but haven’t discovered how to let Him do it through you. Perhaps there are areas that we you were not meant to take on at all. Beware of cultural standards of normalcy that you may not be called to…
Romans 14:4 Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yeah, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Truly, if you have faith in Jesus, you have the mind of Christ and He can show you the difference. Would you give Him the time to show you? Uncertain of some things, focus on crystal clear priorities first like getting to know the One in whom you are supposed to hope. Remember that the One you are transferring your hope to is the God of creation and resurrection. If anyone can remake (fill in the blank) that has been ravaged by misplaced hope and exceed expectations, He can.
1 Cor. 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Can God fix it? He can do better than fix it, he can take a junker and recondition it into a priceless one of a kind classic that others ooh and ah over. The key to this is realizing that we don’t know how. It is like He’s the pro and we are the shop hand, just co-operating as much as we understand and relaxing with the knowledge that we don’t understand much of what is going on in the beginning, but knowing that it is going to be really good.
2 Corinthians 3:5-6 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life

Phillipians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Zec. 4.6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Is. 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Properly placed hope in God’s promises of enabling grace for the moment, lead to peace, wisdom, love, rest and refreshment, creativity, joy, a thankful heart and abundant life.

Take, Read: From Seuss to Scripture - Part II

When our children first learn how to read, a whole new world opens up to them. Reading is about expanding one’s horizons. We are going through this process right now as Jayce is slowly mastering the sounds and way words are put together. Yesterday when he started reading to me, you could see the spark of excitement in the knowledge of this new power of which he was taking hold. His horizons are definitely expanding right now. And with this new power comes a safe yet challenging place – a sanctioned place for fantasy and imagination to acquire the ability to make moral and spiritual choices later in life. He will be able to “transcend the artificial boundaries of race, gender, class, and things.” He will “learn from the wisdom and joys and mistakes of others.” The practice of reading shapes us morally and intellectually. We master certain ideas, broach new values, and stretch our minds and hearts.

Most of you know I love books and am an avid reader though one of my favorite quotes by Einstein gives us some cautionary instruction on the subject: Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking. Certain books as “brain candy” aside, I can see where using any books too much as an escape from the reality and adventure of living can be fruitless and even dangerous. Done right however, reading can reap enormous benefits in our lives mentally, emotionally and spiritually. With the “right books” and a “fruitful method”, [St.] Augustine was convinced, “truth could be found."

Reading aloud, reading silently, reading together, reading alone, meditation on words, meditating on the Word, listening for the Word among all the words – all of these deeply spiritual practices immensely enrich our daily life. If words are important, and if the Gospel of John pictures God’s own beginning as “Word” (the “Word of God”; John 1:1), then not surprisingly reading and its companion practices of writing and telling stories – the art of seeing and composing a life through words – have rich potential for faith. Christians are “people of the Word.”

If, after all this, you’re not sure of your own feelings about the written word, I’ve come up with some pretty good indicators (in a Jeff Foxworthy-style manner) as to whether you are a lover of books.

You just might be a book lover if…

…walking through a book shop is considered “Me” time.

…upon receiving a new book, you crack it open to smell the “fresh”, new book smell.

…you're sleep deprived because you just can’t put it down.

…80% of your wish list for Christmas or birthday is books.

…you enter a library as if it were a sanctuary.

…you’ve put Amazon.com as an icon on your desktop.

…you consider the printed word more precious than gold...and therefore spend much "gold" on the printed word.

…you recognize the act of picking up a book in some way feeds your soul.

…you have a pile of books by your bedside your are currently reading – all at the same time.

…you have more books than bookshelves.

So we read for pleasure. We read to learn, grow, experience new worlds, and connect to others. Ultimately we also read out of a fundamental spiritual need. We seek meaning and answers to profound questions of existence.

Just as food determines the state and shape of one’s body, books can form the soul. Reading, like eating, provides essential nourishment and communion. We cannot live without eating. We cannot live fully without reading. Take, eat. Take, read. Reading is this elementary, this basic to life and faith.

So if your main courses comprise of Scripture, nonfiction and "educational" books, your snacks of miscellany and your desserts of fiction, it sounds to me like you're a pretty healthy reader. Whatever it may be, enjoy your next read!

All green text comes from Chapter 8 of In the Midst of Chaos by Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore.