GOD OF HOPE

Daily Stop & Thinks

Stop & Think: June 6, 2025

Work

When work is a pleasure, life is a joy. When work is a duty, life is slavery (Maxim Gorky, 19th-20th century Russian writer)

Is 9-to-5 (or any other work schedule) a chore for you? Do you dread going to work every day, looking forward to the day’s challenges? No matter how difficult or easy the job, your attitude about your work may be the most important key to your ease of mind and success. Start with joy and anticipation.

I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. . . So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work (Ecclesiastes 2:10; 3:22).

Stop & Think: June 5, 2025

Hope 2

I am prepared for the worst, but hope for the best. (Benjamin Disraeli, British statesman)

No doubt, this would be the attitude of any president, prime minister, or king at just about any time during their tenure. Hoping for the best is certainly not enough while carrying such heavy responsibilities. A leader’s hope is based on wise preparation, coupled with a constant state of readiness, and strong faith in trustworthy help.

Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you (Psalm 25:5).

Stop & Think: June 4, 2025

Hope 1

Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment. (Napoleon Bonaparte, 18th-19th century French statesman)

Author Dale Carnegie enlarges on the idea: “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” Whether it’s a matter of unrequited love or failure to complete a task, hope is part of what’s required to achieve your goals. Seek help from others and trust God for that needed hope.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).

Stop & Think: June 3, 2025

Hard Experiences

Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterwards. (Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright)

Your children may protest, “That’s not fair!” And you have to agree that, indeed, life isn’t always fair. Even at an early age we have to start learning how to handle life’s injustices, stress, and problems. Wilde’s observation may be a good way to think about them. We don’t plan to have problems, but when we do, it’s good to recall the lessons already learned

Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God (Ecclesiastes 7:14). 

Stop & Think: June 2, 2025

Learning

I never learned from a man who agreed with me. (Robert A. Heinlein, American engineer and author)

That’s a rather sweeping statement, and we might wonder if it was true for Heinlein in every one of his relationships. His point is to alert his readers to the danger of listening only to those who are pretty much in lockstep with you and your worldview. There is so much to be learned, so pursue your learning with a cautious but open mind

Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge (Proverbs 18:15).

Stop & Think: June 1, 2025

A Season of Joy

June is a love song written by nature. (Patience Strong, 20th century British poet)

April showers and May flowers are over. It’s June, a favorite month for a lot of people. John Keats, an earlier English poet wrote, “And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days.” Your days may not always be “perfect this month, but it’s your attitude that has the biggest influence on how you view your day, no matter the month.

Each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life (Psalm 42:8).

Stop & Think: May 31, 2025

Be Yourself

It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is. (Desiderius Eramus, 16th century theologian)

Wishing you were someone else is a futile pursuit. You may know all about the unusual abilities and successes of someone you admire, but do you know about their personal life and the hard work and costs of their achievements? It would be far better for you to acknowledge that you are who God made you to be and begin to use your gifts to become all that you could be.

So God created people in his own image . . . Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was excellent in every way. (Genesis 1:27, 31)

Stop & Think: May 30, 2025

Weakness

To see weakness as purely negative is a mistake. Weakness befalls us all, and in many ways. (Arthur Brooks, author and university professor)

Brooks continues: “. . . But it is also an opportunity. . . Stop hiding it, and don’t resist it.” When we acknowledge our weaknesses, we can reach out more easily to find the help we need. Strength often comes in learning and working with others. Brooks also suggests that once you’ve been open about your fears, you can relax and help others when they struggle

He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. (2 Corinthians 1:4)

Stop & Think: May 29, 2025

Looking Ahead

Our best havings are wantings. (C. S. Lewis, late British teacher)

Think about this: what do you really want? Anticipation of that desire may be best thing about it because its fulfillment could be disappointing. On the other hand, your yearning for it may be a hindrance. Here’s what ancient philosopher Seneca said, “Anticipation is the greatest impediment to living life. In anticipating tomorrow, we lose today.”

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Hebrews 10:23)

Stop & Think: May 28, 2025

Honor

An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory (Millard Fillmore, 13th U.S. president)

Who won the Super Bowl this year? Can you name the 2025 March Madness or the Master’s winners from just last month? How soon we forget even some major events in our own lives. Apparently, winning isn’t everything. What’s important is the way you played the game. Fillmore was right; it’s better to be honorable and lose than win dishonorably.

Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. . . Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. (Romans 12:17; James 4:10)

Stop & Think: May 27, 2025

The Cost of Success

Success rarely improves our character. (Sam Yeiter, preacher)

Nearly everyone wants to succeed, and some are willing to pay almost any price in money, time, or effort to climb the so-called ladder of success. Yeiter’s comment is a clear warning that compromise as you move up may cost you your good reputation or, at least, a clear conscience. Those may never be restored, and that’s a very high price to pay.

The Lord detests people with crooked hearts, but he delights in those with integrity. (Proverbs 11:20)

Stop & Think: May 26, 2025

Memorial Day

O beautiful for heroes proved / In liberating strife / Who more than self their country loved / and mercy more than life. (Katharine Lee Bates: America the Beautiful)

The words of the third stanza of this popular patriotic song are particularly appropriate on this day when we remember the many who gave their lives for our freedom. We sorrow over family members and friends, and we honor all who have given their lives in the defense of our country. Thank God for patriotic Americans and for the liberty they fought to provide.

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13)