What On The Horizon Are You Hoping For?
This week a forecast of snow is finally on the horizon. Gusty winds and flurries, with a chance of accumulation. And it got me thinking. What on the horizon are you hoping for?
Hope is the stuff that gives dreams substance. We may not know when, or how, but we bank on the if, as slight of a sliver as it may be.
Hope gives us a direction, and a direction gives us a purpose.
Hope doesn’t dictate or assume. It welcomes, like a door cracked open with warm light seeping through.
And hope, I believe, is essential to living a life on mission.
It draws us towards God so we can live like arrows pointing towards Him in the midst of our everyday lives.
It pulls us away from worry, overwhelm, and discouragement and into His embrace so we can lead the way for others.
It helps us see how we live in the both/and reality of God’s kingdom here on earth while we look forward to the fullness of what is to come so we can help others navigate this tension too.
Hope, in short, gives us something worth sharing.
10 clarifying questions to help you see what’s on the horizon
This time of year, the daylight hours are at their shortest, the air—at least in this pocket of the globe—is at its coldest, and winter blues can narrow our vision and dampen our hope.
We may have to lean in and listen to uncover what it is, really, that we are hoping for.
This is our best-yet bucket list—the wish-list items that require God-intervention.
The brave asks that are scary to say out loud.
The depth of relationships with God and those near us that has always seemed beyond reach.
The bedrock of faith we wish we had. The peace we know we have access to but have yet to walk in. The joy that doesn’t evaporate. The strength too great to come from within us. The contagious grace and purpose that sounds lofty to think it could describe ordinary us. The brave ways we share what God’s doing inside us with those around us.
Right now, I dare you to give yourself a few minutes to dream. Let your thoughts soar and follow them to see where they lead.
I’ll share ten questions you can ask yourself that will help you clarify what it is that you are honestly, wholly hoping for. Go through them at your own pace. Give yourself grace to circle back to any of the questions as needed.
Let’s begin.
- Where are you feeling unrest?
2. Where are you not growing?
3. What do you want to leave behind?
4. Which relationships do you wish were stronger?
5. How do you want your friends to describe you?
6. How does God describe you?
7. Now, do you believe these words?
8. What are you trying to do on your own?
9. What matters to you right now?
10. What is God saying about your next steps?
Now, with the clarity I hope these questions brought you, let’s talk about what you’re hoping for now.
What’s on the horizon that you are hoping for?
Ask God to guide your thoughts and your pen, and begin listing any hopes—big or small—that come to mind.
Once you’ve finished, I invite you to read my list.
What I’m hoping for this year:
- Dinners shared around our table
- Saturday morning brunch potlucks
- Two-way vulnerable, show-up-real conversations
- #MessyBeautiful friendships
- Ripple-effect living
- Everyday faith that sparks questions
- More held in open-hands
- A book contract
Remember the snow on the horizon I mentioned at the beginning? Well, days have passed since I began writing, and the temperature fell, and so did the snow. We got nearly ten inches, and the kids were in heaven. And then we got sick.
It’s not always a clear shot between now and the hope edging the horizon. There can be twists and detours and a whole lot of obstacles. But this I’m learning:
When hope lives inside, I can be content in the here-and-now.
Hope doesn’t decide the path, or how long we will travel, but it does give us a reason to keep going. It makes light our steps even when the things we walk through weigh us down.
And hope, it grows.
Warms us on the inside.
Shines out beyond us like a candle on a dark night.
Hope, it’s contagious. Uncontainable.
That’s why it’s the kindling of missional living.
And that’s why I’m praying for an increased measure of hope for you today.
A prayer of blessing for hope to increase
May these be the days of hope lighting the horizon. May our paths lead gently towards the Light. May we know Who is with us as we walk, as we wonder, as we pray. May we be sharers of the Hope that fills us, strengths us, names us, knows us.
Change your actual life in less than 5 minutes per day!
You can change your actual life in less than 5 minutes a day because baby steps truly can change the trajectory of your life. If you want 2021 to be the year you actually start living on mission in your neighborhood, this little book (available as a paperback and on Kindle) will help you get there. Each of the 30-day devotions takes but a few minutes to read, but they will lead to lasting life change.
Are we email friends yet?
I send a weekly note to my email tribe, and I’d love to include you! As a thank you, you’ll also get access to everything in the FOR YOU library, including the list of word of the year ideas, inspirational phone wallpapers, and a sample week of Cultivating a Missional Life.
