I recently heard the phrase, “Hope is not a strategy.” It got me thinking. As followers of Jesus, we have hope - hope in a loving God that walks with us in everything this life throws at us.

It is a big picture necessity in life to have hope, and often it is used in contrast to despair, the idea that there is no hope. What really got my gears turning, however, is the day to day application of hope as a strategy.

For example, ponder the following questions –

“Do your kids love Jesus?”

“Do the people closest to you know how much you love them?”

“Do people know you are the kind of person they can call anytime?”

“Are you making a difference in the world where God has you planted?”

“Are you growing in your faith and life?”

“Am I living out my faith in a way that creates a generational love of Jesus?”

If you answer all those questions with “I hope so” you probably realize for yourself that hope is not a strategy. It doesn’t put in place the things that will help you arrive at your desired future.

At the men’s retreat in January, I asked the group how many of the organizations and companies they worked for had a mission statement. They all said they did. Then, I asked them how many of them had mission statements, or a vision laid out for their families.

A couple of them said they set some family goals each year, but it was mostly blank stares. If every company/organization refuses to go a day without a mission/vision/strategy, then why do we leave the most important group of people in our lives without intention and direction in life?

I’ve always said that I want three things for my kids – 1. Be kind 2. Work Hard 3. Love Jesus. I revisit these things when I feel we are off track, but I know I haven’t done my best in putting small steps together to help us reach those goals. I’m sure that’s a pretty common standard in our families.

So what are we doing about it? Hoping it gets better? Or… could we envision our own preferred future and start putting some strategies in place to make that future a reality?

I might have lost you after the first paragraph, but if you are still reading and feel fired up about taking on this process in your family/household/extended family, I want to help. Let’s get together and be good stewards of the people and the time God has entrusted to us. Send me an email or reach out if you really want to make a plan to make a difference.

 Colossians 3:12-17

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

 - Pastor Luke