Hope

Monday… there are all sorts of names we call Monday. For some it’s a relief as the weekend has been stressful. For many in ministry, it’s their day off. For teachers, it’s the reality of back to school. Monday.. according to Wikipedia  Judaism considers Mondays  for fasting and for reading the Torah. Early Christians were asked to fast on Wednesdays instead. In some Orthodox churches, angels are commemorated on Mondays.  Other religions consider Monday to be a family day, and in monasteries abstaining from meat, fowl, dairy products fish, wine and oil were the protocol.

So what’s on the calendar for your Monday? For me, it’s reflection time from what’s happened over the weekend. What did I hear, what did I experience,  where did I go, what did my heart tell me?  Sermons- a phenomenal sermon on Ruth,  visiting an old friend, small group and of course a couple football games that I didn’t have to get emotionally involved in since the Vikings had a bye week.  It’s good to think back- reflect. It’s good to remember, it’s good to recall and even good to remind ourselves what we might not want to do next weekend.  Our weekends tend to be selfish attempts to make ourselves happy rather than intentional plans to bless others.

In my planner, I actually bought a Christian planner this year and although only into the second week, I like it.  I take sermon notes in it, write down plans, write down prayer lists, check off goals, make goals, rewrite goals; it’s like everyday is a Monday. A time to reflect and rework my life so it’s effective. So, based on my weekend, reflecting on what I heard, felt, did, ate, sensed and cared about, what will change today that will make Tuesday better?   Hope is the word from the weekend. Hope lost, hope renewed, hope pursued and hope restored. Of course that’s the story of Ruth in a nutshell, but it’s also the story of our lives.  We lose hope everyday. We get excited, we get disappointed. We get good news, we get bad news.  That’s life- we lose hope but in the same breath we have our hope renewed. For me this week on a very bad day, it was a note from a total stranger who heard me lead worship and was writing to say how much the CD changed her day and how it encourages her. Then, my hope was renewed when I went to visit my old friend. That’s a literal statement; she is old. Grey hair, bent knees, shoulders that sag , a smile that never quits and wisdom that was waiting to be shared.  Hope renewed is like that cold cup of water when it’s a really hot day in July. Right now, it would be a hot cup of coffee in the Midwest cold spell, but hope refreshes. Hope also is what we pursue. We make changes in our week, based on what we reflect because we HOPE things will be better. If we didn’t have hope, we wouldn’t crawl out of bed. It’s what kept Ruth from jumping ship and heading back to  Moab. She believed in the God of Naomi and had hope.  God spends our days renewing and restoring our hope. He did it with a baby in a manger and he does it with a word from a friend. He speaks hope in a Bible verse or a podcast. He gives us hope in the hug of a child and the prayer of a saint. Hope… what reflecting on the Monday’s in our lives should give us.  A bad week? God will make this week better.  A trying week? God helped you endure. A tearful week? God wiped the tears away and gave a hug. A wonderful week? Give God the glory and walk on.

1 Corinthians 2:9 “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him”  Hope!  I can imagine some really cool things and it tells me that not even my crazy imagination can come up with what God is planning for this week.  That’s Hope!

Prayer:

Lord, we get so discouraged when we look at places we have come from. Give us the imagination to look for Hope from you in situations we find ourselves in. When we think it’s useless, remind us that Hope brings out You.  Remind us that You are a God of reflections, memories and have so many great things in store for us. Lord, remind us to give you the glory