Black Church

Marriner’s Moment: Hope Reimagined – Part 3

By Pastor Melvin O. Marriner
Grove Church

“Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all you that hope in the LORD.”
Psalms 31:24

Real faith requires us to live a life that is frequently referred to as “FAT – Faithful, Available (to God and others) and Teachable.” Living a FAT life requires us to change and, for many of us, change conflicts with our comfort. It requires us to keep our focus on what God has said and not on what we see. We must envision ourselves getting past the pain, disappointment or trial so that we can pursue our purpose with power and authority.

Sometimes – when we give up hope – we begin to look like our condition: hopeless, helpless and downtrodden. With hope reimagined, we can transform our lives by:

Changing our hopes
Understand that God has given each of us unique gifts and talents and His desire is not for us to ‘blend in,’ but to walk in our purpose, with confidence. We all experience rejection in life, but we must find ways to overcome or deal with rejection, failures, criticisms and losses.

Changing our habits
When we continue to do the same thing and it hasn’t been working for us, we cannot expect different outcomes. Something has to change and sometimes several things may need to change including our lifestyle, outlook or attitude, our response to situations and our faith.

Changing our helpers
To reimagine hope, we may need to change our ‘squad’ or our helpers; those individuals who surround us and who are content to wallow with us. Remember that misery does love company. We must seek out individuals who encourage us, support us and pray for us.

Make the change and know that God has more for you than you have experienced. Persevere. Endure. Stay in the water just a little bit longer (like the laboratory animals I mentioned in Part I of this series). God will not only rescue you, but He will deliver you, elevate you and give you a hope that you never imagined!
Peace and power

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