Life is unpredictable- It evolves around ups and downs that nobody can explain. However, you can dictate to life what you want it to be for you, even in the midst of the unpredictability. Life may never give you what you desire, but you can take what you desire from life by being intentional and hopeful.
Hope is the defining moment for a desired turnaround. Your hope has the capacity to birth a vision, and in that state of hopefulness, you become visionary, taking necessary steps in responsibility; and making the required moves to be in command of life. Proverbs 22:29 “Show me someone who does a good job, and I will show you someone who is better than most and worthy of the company of kings).
Life did not give Jabez what he wanted because of a faulty foundation tied to his mother despite being an honorable man. However, Jabez kept hope alive, and prayed his way to a remarkable change of story. In 1 Chronicles 4:10 “And Jabez called on God…, I believe Jabez had hoped for a desired change for a period of time like many us will do; but he knew he had to do something for that change to come. Many of us are hopeful, but not making corresponding moves to usher in our desired change.
Jabez decided to demand what he wanted out of life, he took responsibility, and ran with the vision for a better life than the one he lived. The moment he took responsibility, his status changed (1 Chronicles 4:9-10). A wise man once said “Every day is God’s day, but the day you choose to apply laid down principles, while taking appropriate actions is when your change begins. It is good to hope because that is what spurs you into believing and thinking that things can be better, but it is not enough to just hope; (Romans 8: 24-25 “But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently).
Waiting patiently in this instance does not mean sitting around without doing anything, it is a season to build capacity in preparation for that big break.
Yes, God will do it, but are you taking corresponding actions to see that the change happen? Remember, your hope brings you into partnership with God, and for partners to succeed in a project, both must play their parts. While in hope, be projective, and visualize your desired position in life and run with the vision; engage doggedly to get to it. (Philippians 3: 12-15 “Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it… Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God...).
Vision is powerful, and the carrier must take responsibility and with a hopeful stance. The devil himself was visionary; Jesus testified of the devil’s vision in John 10:10 ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy’. Your growth and advancement must be intentional, no level of assumption without corresponding action will initiate a desired growth or change of level. Every form of transportation is designed to face forward, because that is the only way it can advance, even humans and animals were designed that way. God specifically in wisdom, placed the eyes in the anterior, to see ahead and guide towards intended destination. So without vision, one is limited. (Proverbs 4:25-26 “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).
Jesus, at the age of 12, took such responsibility to effect the kind of change he wanted to see happen in His life. He understood his assignment, and the path that must align in life in order to fulfil destiny; knowing that will not come by hope and desires alone, but with diligence in His assignment. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work (John 9:4).
In Luke 2:52, it was recorded that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. The growth did not just happen, He made it happen in the same chapter, Luke 2: 42-49. Growth (Change) are not automatic, they are made to happen. The only growth that is automatic, is the biological growth (Our body). Therefore, while in the state of hope, it is important to also have a plan in place to bolster the realization of what is being hoped for. A wise man once said “Only 2 categories of people will value and love you even when you don’t add a significant value to their lives, “God and your family”, and this categories of people can only support you, but may not reward you. God rewards those who add value as a result of their labor ‘’Revelation 22: 12 "Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done”, and “1 Timothy 5:18 …And, The laborer is worthy of his reward. The vast majority of those that will reward you are those who you solved or will solve their problems.
Numbers 13: 1, &16-25 paraphrased “God promised Moses and the children of Israel a fruitful land. Moses was visionary, and did not just anchor the fulfilment of God’s word only on hope; he engaged a corresponding action by sending certain individuals to the land to see what it looked like. They stepped into their God given land not just by hoping, but they were proactive, and rode on the vision of Moses who engaged the law of motion by moving forward.
Be hopeful! And at the same time, be visionary taking necessary steps!