New Year New Hope
New You!
By Audrey Davis
Job 14:7-9 NLT
[7] “Even a tree has more hope! If it is cut down, it will sprout again and grow new branches. [8] Though
its roots have grown old in the earth and its stump decays, [9] at the scent of water it will bud and sprout
again like a new seedling.
Ever give thought to the things in
your life that you once had such
great hope in but somehow along
your journey they just seem to have
“grown old” and even began to
“decay”? You know, like the dream
you once had which was faced with
more challenging obstacles than
the Hebrews parked at the Red
Sea’s coast line. Or how about that
prayer for healing that you prayed
yet you never seen it fulfilled? I
believe we can all identify with an
area of our lives which we seem
to have lost hope in. We lose hope
that an avenue would ever present
itself leading to our life’s dream.
We’ve lost hope in family members
who make promises and can’t keep
them; a spouse who says they’ll
“change” but is more talk than walk;
a promotion we’re positioned to
get but watch it get handed to the
next guy and we’ve even lost hope
in a debt free future yet we feel the
pains of poverty year after year. So
what if it were possible to reverse
the “aging process” or “decaying”
of our hope?! What if all it took to
bring “it” back was one tiny drop
of water? What if all we needed to
refuel our hope was a new mind?
A new perspective can change
our perception. This is not a new
concept to consider either! Job’s
understanding of the hope in God
is unfolded all throughout the 42
chapters of his book. He realized
that it wasn’t in his ability to gain
his obvious success counted in the
11,000 animals he owned, or his
10 children, or his many servants
or even being the richest in all the
land! When it came down to it, once
he was stripped of everything down
to his very core, he knew it was only
his hope in God that was going to
take him through his many trials
and arrive at peace. Job states that
“having hope will give you courage.
You will be protected and will rest
in safety” (Job 11:18). There is
something about having hope when
there seems to be nothing left.
So where does this hope
come from and how do we obtain it?
Paul tells us that “God, the source of
hope, will fill you completely with
joy and peace because you trust
in him. Then you will overflow with
confident hope through t