102: The Root of Hope
===
Hello, my friends, and welcome to another episode of Radiant You. There are times in your life where God wants to send you a message, but maybe you're not hearing it. And if you're anything like me, that message will show up in so many places around your everyday life to help you clearly see the message that He wants you to hear.
And for me lately, it has been very, very apparent that God is trying to talk to me. And I figured since He's sharing this message with me, maybe I need to share it with you too. So just a little bit of background about what's been going on. I have a year ahead of me that feels like a year of change. For me, I am expecting and I am excited, but also that means change, right?
I haven't had a baby in the house for a really long time and it feels a little scary. Like the unknown and the, how's that going to change my business or my friendships, or my relationship with my other boys, or my physical body, or our finances. There's all these question marks that keep coming up in my head and my subconscious wants to solve for all the things, right? And it wants to solve them now so that I don't have to think about them, so I can just move forward and not have to worry about what the end looks like. But life doesn't work that way. No matter how hard you try and predict the things that are coming, you just can't. And I know, I know if you're like me at all, we're frustrated about that fact! But there are some times where you just say, "I'm going to walk forward with faith." *Faith is that trust that no matter what is happening, no matter what is coming, you know, God has got you. You know, that He is orchestrating things for your good and so you walk forward, trusting that He'll catch *you.* Gratefully, I was raised by a woman with such profound faith that is something that comes naturally to me. When I make a decision and I know God's blessing is on it, I can move forward faithfully, knowing that it's going to be okay. And I have come to know that for myself. And I'm so grateful for that gift. But the gift of faith is only a piece of the puzzle. And that's one of the things I've been learning lately.I was having a conversation with a friend of mine recently, and we were talking about things we're trying to do and projects we're trying to build and even God-given callings we're trying to fulfill. And how sometimes we just feel deflated, feel like I don't know if this is going to work and I just am struggling to believe.
And she called me out and she said, "It sounds like you need to work on your faith." And in that moment, there was just this oil and water energy because I thought, "You know, I really identify myself as a woman of faith. Am I struggling [00:03:00] in my faith?" And in my core, I knew that wasn't it.Don't get me wrong. there are many times where I have struggled with my faith and needed to do some digging and healing, but I knew that wasn't what was going on. And as I was prayerful and thoughtful after this conversation, I asked God, "What is it that I'm struggling with?"
And what came to me was, "Yes, you have faith. But do you have hope?" And that was a distinctive moment for me because I hadn't really detangled the two. What's the difference between faith and hope? And am I struggling with hope because I don't have faith or does one lead to the other? How do I build them? All of these question marks have been in my heart and in my mind. Over the past few months I've been doing studies with this in mind and trying to move forward with faith and bring hope along with it.
One of the areas where that's been affecting my life is with my pregnancy. Last spring, I had conceived and knew it was God's will, and I was so excited. And then I miscarried. And my world got shaken. It was really hard for me, both physically and emotionally. There's some podcasts. I talk about that in the past. If you want to go check them out. But it was a refining fire for me. That I needed to go through and in the end, I have seen God's hand. I've known exactly what it is that He was trying to help me learn. And I'm so grateful that I kept moving forward in faith, walking the path, knowing that He was the author and that it would be okay. And now I'm expecting again. and today I even got to do the anatomy ultrasound to confirm that it is a little girl. And I am so excited after four boys to have this sweet little thing come to our family and add a little feminine touch where I could definitely use that friend. So, I have so much joy today and I feel like I'm finally giving myself permission to feel that to the fullest.
I had done a blood test a few months ago to make sure everything was okay because we'd had the miscarriage and different factors that were going into it. We opted to do that blood test. Well, it also told me the gender that it was going to be a girl. And I wanted to get excited and I had faith that God's will was done, whatever it was, boy or girl, but I still was struggling to hope that it truly could be a girl. And seeing it today, knowing for sure the ultrasound tech was like, "Yep, there is no doubt. This is a girl." My heart just was so elated and just relieved and so excited!"
But I have this moment where I thought, "The scriptures invite us to have hope and faith even without seeing." And it gave me pause and I thought, I want more of that in my life. I want to really practice hope. Hope that I can move forward and see the success even if I don't have it yet.
*Not just faith that everything will work out in the end and God will take care of it, but hope for the positive outcome.*
Now, it was a little bit harder for me to do that with this girl, because one, I have zero influence on the gender, and two, I had just experienced the trauma of the miscarriage. But in other areas of our life where we do have influence, where our efforts impact what happens, how do we build more of that hope? Well, like I said, God is bringing this up in multiple areas of my life. And one of the other places that I clearly heard Him speak to my soul about hope was recently during the service of my church, when a 12 year old girl got up and shared her testimony. She was asked to share about patience and how that influences her life. And it was this short, maybe five minute message that she just shared a little bit about patience. But one of the things she said felt like a lightning struck me and the Spirit so strongly witnessed that it was true. She was talking about patience and that patience means that we keep moving forward. We keep doing what we can do, and we hope that it will work out. And then she went on and said other things about patience, but my brain stopped right there. And I thought, "I have never connected patience and hope. That hope is a product of being patient."
Maybe the reason I'm struggling with hope is because I'm not doing patience well. It's not dependent on my faith. I know God's got this. I know overall it's going to be fine, but I'm feeling a little impatient that my timetable isn't the way that it's happening. And so my hope is dwindling. That sweet little nugget of truth has given me permission to slow down, to embrace God's timing and to hope that my joy, my love, my desires can be fulfilled.
Then again, as He does so well, He brought up another witness for me to be reminded of this truth. Every Tuesday at my church, I volunteer to teach this class called Emotional Resilience, where anyone in the community can come and learn how to be more emotionally resilient as founded in teachings of Jesus Christ. And it's so fun and so inspiring and connecting to watch these people come from the community, from my church fellowship, from all the different places around and connect together desiring to have more emotional resilience. And this past Tuesday, the curriculum that I'm teaching from was covering Moving Forward in Faith and How to Endure Well. Now, I did not create this curriculum. I was just asked to teach it and supplement it with some of the things that I've learned in my coaching. And as I was studying and preparing to do this class, I came across this quote from one of my favorite spiritual speakers. His name is Dieter F. Uchtdorf and he said this:
"Patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can, working, hoping, and exercising faith. Bearing hardships with fortitude, even when the desire of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring. It is enduring well." *I felt like God was witnessing to me that patience is vital to endure. But not just endure with a struggle and a hopelessness, but to endure well. *
My friends, is there something in your life that you desperately want?
One of those desires of your heart that you feel have been delayed? Maybe you have the faith that it's all going to be okay, and God's got this, and I trust Him. Maybe that's something you need to work on.
But even if you have the faith, do you have hope?
Do you have hope for the world around you that, that things can be good? That a child that may be struggling in your family can find joy and light and the healing power of Jesus Christ? That your relationship with someone that you feel has been dying can be revived and renewed and that there's hope on the other side? Do you have hope that there is joy to be had even if there isn't change in your physical state, or your family life, or that work situation that isn't moving forward?
Do you have hope that there can be that fulfillment of joy, that those dreams can come true and that even if it doesn't come true the way that you want it to that it can be just as exciting and fulfilling and connecting and joyful as you wanted in the first place.
*My invitation to you today is to practice true patience, that you might have * *hope: lasting hope, exciting hope, hope that makes you want to move forward and create the thing that you're hoping for in the first place.*
Where do you need a little bit more hope? Is it something you need to pray for? Maybe go study God's word because there's beautiful truths in there about hope.
One of my studies also brought a reference that I hadn't been expecting. That week it was part of the study I had already planned and it said:
"Press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope."
You want to know what radiance looks like? A brightness of hope. And God wants you to feel that brightness. He wants you to shine! He wants you to experience the joy that comes with hope.
I've experienced it so many times in my life and I've struggled to sustain it other times. But today I choose hope. I choose to be steadfast in Christ and to press forward.*What are you going to choose today? Choose hope. *
And if you're struggling to find it, come hang out with us and we will help you learn and grow in ways that will build your hope and move you forward with faith.
Keep shining, my friend, and have a blessed day.
You are radiant and God wants you to remember that truth. But sometimes you forget. Don't worry. I've got you! I've created some free resources that will help you live lighter and shine brighter. Check out my show notes for the links. Each week I do a newsletter that gives you inspirational tips and tools to move forward. One simple step at a time. We also jump in on a free monthly masterclass to discover more of that radiant view.
If you are ready to really dive deep and see your life transformed with more self awareness, self confidence, and self love, you can also book a free Live Lighter session where we uncover the patterns where you are being stuck and see the path forward.
However, God guides your next steps. Know that you are not alone on this journey, and we are here ready to support you. I can't wait to see how you discover a more radiant you.
