Hope is the feeling of expectation and excitement for a particular thing. We all want hope for life. Living with excited expectations is joyful and inspiring. It gives us something to look forward to and work towards. This is why we are compelled to keep hope alive as we move through our lives. The best way to do that is to follow God’s direction. In this passage He gives us very clear instructions on how to carry on in our daily lives. When we guard our hearts from worldly happenings we ensure that what flows out from us is goodness. God wants to shine through us, but we have to choose His ways for that to happen. When we choose His ways, our hope for life ahead of us will overflow. We will live in excited expectation rather than in guilt ridden regret.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
Proverbs 4:23-27 NIV
God knows our hearts. He searches them often. He has placed many of the desires of our hearts within us. It is from our hearts that we make many of the plans for our lives. However, we must never forget from whom those plans originated. “The Lord establishes [our] steps.” We can have hope for the paths our lives are taking when we look to God for the steps. He wants to guide us. We need His direction. Without it we can become distracted by our own ambition or the way the world tells us we are “supposed” to go. Only what we do for Christ will last. Thus, we should want to focus on what matters and forget what does not. What matters is recognizing God’s hand at work in our lives and following His cues. This will give us endless hope for what is to come.
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.
Proverbs 16:9 NIV
Considerations for your planner:
- Can you use the instructions in Proverbs 4:23-27 in your daily life? Write them down to hold yourself accountable today.
- What are the desires of your heart? Are you letting the world dictate how you see these desires through or are you going to God to establish your steps? Write down your thoughts to these questions.
A Story of Direction:
Relinquishing the path for my life to God has not been easy. I am sure I still wrestle with it each day. However, I do not wrestle with it as much as I once did. I used to be the person with a 5 and 10 year plan for my life. It took real disappointment and let down for what I thought would be to understand that I do not hold the keys to my future.
Learning to give my day to day over to God has been challenging, but even more rewarding. I have literally felt the weight of life ease from my shoulders. It has taught me so much about how I look at the world and how I can approach life differently. Most importantly I have learned how to wait. Wait for what to do next, rather than always jump into action.
I have always been a pretty decisive person. I touted this as a praise worthy quality; however, being decisive meant I always carried the burden of action. Learning to let this go and turn to God for my next steps has alleviated this burden. I know who really has the keys to my future. I am grateful that my path is directed. I find hope in not knowing, but trusting that I know who does.
- Anonymous
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