Monthly Archives: November 2024

I’ve known several true gardeners who have decent size gardens in their yard. I’ve watched them work hard each spring tilling up the soil to aerate it. Then they use the hoe to take out any unwanted items like roots as they form it into rows. They know just when to plant seeds and how deep to place each individual seed. It’s as much physical exercise as going to the gym. Then they’re out there all the time making sure the soil has the proper nutrients so they can maximize the productivity of the seeds. They pull weeds for months as the crops grow and water it as needed. When it comes time for harvest, they know just when to pick each item. Once they’ve harvested each plant, they put some away for immediate use and start canning the rest. It’s crazy how much work goes into ensuring the seeds produce a harvest.

The book of Nehemiah is good to spend time in because of all the lessons you can learn. God dropped a seed in his heart to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem while he was living in exile. The king gave him permission to do what God had told him and even funded the project. When he arrived, he saw the rubble and how much work it was going to take to bring this seed to life. He mobilized the people living their to help him. As they began to move the rocks, opposition came which slowed the work down. They had to have a sword in one hand while moving rocks with the other. With hard work and perseverance, they were able to rebuild the wall and gates of the city. It took them just 52 grueling days to see extraordinary results from their efforts. When they completed it, they had a great feast to celebrate what God had accomplished through them.

Psalm 126:6 says, “Those who wept as they went out carrying the seed will come back singing for joy, as they bring in the harvest” (GNT). I don’t know what seeds God has placed in your heart to plant, but I do know it won’t be an easy process. Knowing when and where to plant will take effort. You will face opposition, sometimes from the people you least expect it from. You will have to pour some blood, sweat and tears into it before you’re able to reap the harvest. Don’t give up in the process though. Galatians 6:9 reminds us, “So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest.” Keep digging. Keep planting. Don’t stop weeding and watering either. There is a harvest coming after all this labor and there will be rejoicing because the harvest will be worth the effort.

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I learned early on the power of hope. You could be exhausted and ready to give up, but the moment you got the tiniest bit of hope, you got a second wind. Hope gives you strength to move forward despite whatever circumstances you’re facing. It is the possibility of a chance even though the odds are stacked against you. While confidence is the belief that something will happen favorably. You trust in the outcome before it happens no matter what. The Bible talks a lot about confident hope. That is where we trust in the promises of God. The outcome doesn’t rely on chance, but rather the character of God. The more we know God, the more we will know His character. The more we know His character, the more confident our hope will be in the outcome.

Here are some Bible verses on having confident hope.

1. I pray 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 the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13 NLT

2. “There is [confident] hope for your future,” says the Lord; “Your children will come back to their own country.”

Jeremiah 31:17 AMP

3. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

Ephesians 1:18 NLT

4. O Lord of hosts, How blessed and greatly favored is the man who trusts in You [believing in You, relying on You, and committing himself to You with confident hope and expectation].

Psalms 84:12 AMP

5. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

Romans 12:12 NLT

Bonus: Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!”

Romans 4:18 NLT

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After I would finish a presentation or training at my last job, I would have people come up and want to know how to get a job in my position. Some would ask if they could shadow me for a day to see what the job was like. I would offer them a day in the week prior to the training, but they would push back. They wanted to be there for the presentation. I would tell them that what they see is the result of my work. If they really wanted to see my work, they needed to come when I set the room up, sat in each chair, clicked through each slide, checked every link and worked on my delivery. I rarely had anyone want to shadow on those days though. They wanted to be on stage rather than when I did the behind the scenes disciplines.

Jesus had large crowds who followed Him. They would yell out things like, “God bless the woman who birthed you!” They would walk around the Sea of Galilee to meet Him where He docked. They loved hearing the authority in His voice, the confrontations with the religious leaders, the parables, the miracles and being fed fish and bread. However, several times throughout the Gospels that Jesus got up early to go pray or that He went to a desolate place to be alone with God. It never says that anyone went with Him. They knew where He was going and what He was doing, but no one went. When Jesus invited them into the Garden of Gethsemane, they fell asleep rather instead of praying. They were missing the disciplines necessary for everything Jesus was doing until we get to the book of Acts. Then they turned the world upside down.

In Acts 6 the disciples said it wasn’t good for them to neglect teaching the Word of God. Then in verse 4 they said, “But we will [continue to] devote ourselves [steadfastly] to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (AMP). They understood that daily time in prayer and in reading the Word is what gave them the ability to know the Father’s will and to know what He wants said. You can want the stage and the visibility. Your talents may even get you there, but it will be your hidden disciplines of spending time alone with God that keeps you there. When you look up great men and women of faith throughout history, you will find that they were people of prayer who spent time in the Word. If you want to increase your effectiveness as a Christian or minister, increase your time alone with God. Your hidden disciplines will be honored by God.

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