The Hope QuotientSample

Every person lives in fear or faith. Where you live determines your expectations. It’s been said, “Fear is the darkroom where negatives develop.” The most powerful way to a rapid life change is to move from FEAR to FAITH.

Pull up the David and Goliath story in your mind. When does the army stop hiding? When do they run to battle? Only after one guy with raised expectations—David—has the courage to act. David changed everything for his nation when he moved from FEAR to powerful FAITH.

The steps of FEAR are always a spiral of defeat:

     Focused Only on the Problem

     Expects to be Defeated

     Attitude of Self-Protection

     Runs from the Problem

The choices of FAITH always spiral us upward into action and victory: 

     Focused on God

     Anticipates God’s Help

     Insists on Being Involved

     Takes Time to Prepare

     Has an Impact on Everyone Around Us

Living in fear is prison. Living in faith is freedom. It’s a constant battle to stay in faith, one I’ve probably preached to myself three thousand times. 

I remember twenty-five years ago when two dozen people showed up to start a church called Bayside. I walked away thinking, This will never happen. But one man, Dave Olson, saw something different. He saw God at work. He told me, “We need to stay at it!”

Dave was right. I was wrong. Dave had divine expectation. I had human fear. Dave saw better days ahead. I had to take blinders off. I’m glad I did. Tens of thousands of people have become Christ-followers and moved from fear to faith.

Whatever you need, God is greater. Whatever you’re going through, God is bigger. Whatever your weakness, God is stronger. Raise your expectation of what God can do. Raise your expectation of what He will do. Replace FEAR with FAITH.

Think Up:

Choose to live in FAITH, not FEAR. Choose it again tomorrow. And the next day.

Start looking to the future with great expectation. What have you got to lose? (Read on).