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Sustaining Hope: First Steps/Next Steps - Articles | Preachit.org

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Sustaining Hope: First Steps/Next Steps

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What does sustaining hope mean to you?  

We live in a world of epidemic uncertainty from politics to the financial world.   Even religious views and positions have taken changed dramatically in recent years.  Ours is a world with changing opinions and attitudes about God and His church. How people thought about the church 20 years ago is much different than how their children feel about it today.  

How does one stay resolute in Hope?  Those who feel a call of God to preach His Word to this ever-changing world should guard themselves from the elements that would discourage or dissuade them from the call to “sustain hope.”

Sustaining hope means being encouraged when everyone else is discouraged.  It means keeping your head up and showing people faith even when situations look their darkest.  But, how does one stay encouraged?  How do they keep that positive mental attitude when life is hitting them the hardest?

 

The following, taken  from the book Credibility by James M. Kouzes & Barry Z. Posner gives some direction to the Church leader who desires to remain optimistic even in hard times.  

“We know the realities of today’s economy – social uneasiness… and the gloomy forecasts for the days ahead.   Sustaining hope through such times will be a major task, even for the natural optimist. Here are a few steps we can take to rise to the challenge and help those we lead to rise and hope as well.

Exercise – If you’re feeling depressed, don’t sit around moaning;  you’ll only get further depressed.  Instead, exorcise with physical exercise.  Choose an activity you like.  Optimistic and resilient people have healthier life-styles.

Write your vision of the future – Leaders have a sense of direction and a positive ideal image of tomorrow’s common good.  Leaders also engage in dialogue with others about what they see on the horizon of time and seek a common vision that all can share. 

Set goals and make a plan – Hopeful and optimistic people have more than positive images of the future; they have goals and plans for how they will achieve them.  Take your vision statement, break it down into projects, set goals for each of them and make a plan to achieve them.  (The best goals are SMART:  Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, And Time bound.)

Choose Flexible Optimism – …better leaders are flexible optimists.  Credible leaders pay attention to both optimists and pessimists and choose optimism appropriately.”

We would add to this list…

Choose Humility – Being a servant leader means to choose humility as Christ did.  He could have easily called the angels down to pronounce judgment on a world that persecuted and denied Him, but instead he suffered the cruel death of the Cross, “As a lamb to the slaughter.”  

Get your direction and vision from God – He is the creator of all things. Let him create in and through you.  Get alone with Him and allow Him to speak vision and direction into your life and ministry. 

Stay in constant communication with the Lord – He is our constant encourager.  There is no one who can give us the clear word like He can. When you need someone to lift you up, get alone with Him and seek His face. 

One cannot remain idle when it comes to their state of mind or spiritual position.  Taking care of the church means taking care of yourself.  To do this, we should constantly consider our own needs and that of our family.