GOD OF HOPE

Daily Stop & Thinks

Stop & Think: August 23, 2025

Finding a Better Life

To live a life most people don’t, you have to be willing to do what most people don’t. (Callyn Hahn, fitness advocate)

Have you noticed that there is more to life than many people ever discover? Whether it’s simply that they don’t want to do something worthwhile or they just don’t care makes little difference. The result is the same: no improvement in their life or in the world around them. Choose to live your life above and beyond life’s everyday struggles.

Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper (Proverbs 13:4).

Stop & Think: August 22, 2025

Decisions

If it costs you your peace, it costs too much. (Source unknown)

We are all faced with daily decisions. Some are of little consequence like which tie or socks I should wear today. Others may significantly affect our future—questions of education, marriage, career, and the like. One good test of your decision is how do you feel about your choice after a few days? If you don’t have peace of mind, rethink it. If you do, move forward with confidence.

Pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace (2 Timothy 2:22).
Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it (1 Peter 3:11).

Stop & Think: August 21, 2025

Today and Tomorrow

One today is worth two tomorrows; what I am to be, I am now becoming. (Benjamin Franklin)

The past is our foundation. We learn from it and use its lessons to plan for the future. But today is even more important. Not only does our future depend on the past, but also the way we use our time and the lessons learned today. One song writer put it this way: “Yesterday’s gone and tomorrow may never come, but we have this moment in time.”

How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? (James 4:14)
Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring (Proverbs 27:1).

Stop & Think: August 20, 2025

Respond Well

We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. (Thomas S. Monson, late religious leader)

Someone else put it this way: “The wind may blow from any direction, but the direction in which you go depends on how you set your sails.” The lesson of those analogies is simple: we can’t always control our circumstances, but we can exercise our own abilities to respond in ways that correct or take advantage of our situation. Be prepared and trust the God of the wind.

Who holds the wind in his fists? (Proverbs 30:4)
Even the wind and waves obey him! (Luke 8:25)

Stop & Think: August 19, 2025

Creation’s Beauty

No one can believe that God is not good when the August gardens are in their heyday. (Gladys Taber, late author and columnist)

There are flowers that bloom in the spring and others in late September. But in August, many gardens reveal the extraordinary blooms of such beauties as zinnias, sunflowers, and gladiolas for us to enjoy. God has graciously created the seasons so that in many parts of the world we can enjoy the variety of his creation. We appreciate the beauty and worship to creator.

There will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! . . . You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring (Isaiah 35:2; 58:11).

Stop & Think: August 18, 2025

Positivity

Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you. (Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast)

Few people are neutral when it comes to their perspective on life. Some are mostly negative; often seeing the thorn rather than the rose. Optimists, on the other hand, ignore the thorn and rejoice in the blossom. Retton has observed that people who think positively attract the most friends. And their influence often produces happy outcomes.

You have greatly encouraged me and made me happy despite all our troubles (2 Corinthians 7:4).

Stop & Think: August 17, 2025

Challenged

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. (James Baldwin, American writer)

We have all run into situations we want to change. And sometimes there’s even an urgency about it. Unfortunately, we often ignore the problem rather than confront it. But Baldwin’s challenge is significant. We certainly can’t change even the changeable if we don’t first address it. Then we can begin working to overcome it.

Whenever we are faced with any calamity . . . we can come to stand in your presence . . . We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us (2 Chronicles 20:9).

Stop & Think: August 16, 2025

Worry

Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create. (Roy T. Bennett, author)

Most people worry. Whether it’s if the weather will ruin your outdoor wedding plans, what others might think of you, or if you’ll have a heart attack, we worry about things we can’t control. And therein lies the problem. So, rather than worry, put your concerns to work and trust God with your worries.

So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries (Matthew 6:34).
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything (Philippians 4:6).

Stop & Think: August 15, 2025

Inescapable Sin

A man who works evil against another works it really against himself, and bad advice is worst for the one who devised it. (Hesiod, ancient Greek poet)

This statement was not the result of modern psychological study; it was written centuries before Christ. Yet, today there are some who work for the harm of others—even nations. Sometimes, events work out so those perpetrators of evil suffer the consequences of their deeds and learn this important lesson. Others never do. Let’s be sure to seek good for others, not evil.

Those who make evil plans will be ruined, but those who plan to do good will be loved and trusted (Proverbs 14:22).

Stop & Think: August 14, 2025

Prayer

Prayer is the easiest and hardest of all things; the simplest and the sublimest; the weakest and the most powerful. (E. M. Bounds, 18th – 20th century author)

Bounds continues: “Its results lie outside the range of human possibilities; they are limited only by the omnipotence of God.” Effective prayer is more than the recitation of memorized sayings or the emergency cry for help. As Bounds suggests, it is often a conundrum. It is so because, as he suggests, it’s basically seeking the help of an all-powerful God who alone can answer.

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results (James 5:16).

Stop & Think: August 13, 2025

Ordinary People

People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things. (Sir Edmund Hilary, late New Zealand mountaineer and explorer)

Hilary and his Sherpa companion were the first to climb to the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. It was an extraordinary venture. But ordinary people can also accomplish extraordinary deeds. In One Drop of Water, author Jim Hocking credits God with using an ordinary guy to accomplish the extraordinary task of providing clean water for thousands in the Central African Republic.

The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men . . . [but] they also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).

Stop & Think: August 12, 2025

Generosity

If you desire to become a more generous person, don’t wait for your income to change. Change your heart. (John C. Maxwell, leadership speaker and author)

We are constantly besieged with appeals for money—help the homeless, the poor, the abused, veterans and suffering animals. The requests are endless and most often legitimate. Real, deep needs do exist. How do we respond? With a good wish but “No”—or “I may have to sacrifice, but I am going to help.”

Blessed are those who are generous (Proverbs 22:9).  
Since you excel in so many ways . . . I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving (2 Corinthians 8:7).