Hello Friends,
I’m your host Dr. Dave Laton and thank you for joining me in Our Journey to Hope.
It is my desire through this podcast to bring you information about how to discover, sustain, or perhaps regain hope.
In this episode I will discuss a bit about finding hope through reflection. I will discuss what reflection is and how it relates to hope. I'll give some practical things we can do to grow in hope.
Let's begin by defining the terms reflection and hope.
Hope, as we've discussed in previous episodes, can be understood in two ways. One is to have a vague feeling of wanting something to happen. This is almost a wish. The other is to have confident assurance in something. This is what we ultimately seek, especially in regard to our relationship with God.
Reflection is defined as serious thought or consideration. Other words we think about are contemplation, deliberation, pondering, meditation, musing, or simply remembering and thinking upon something.
I apply the meaning of reflection as looking back or looking at a situation in my life and think about what it meant or how it impacted my life. This action helps us to be aware of ourselves and how events, relationships, or the lack of relationship impact us in our physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual self.
That sounds like a mouthful, but it comes down to the sum of all the life events that have happened to us in the past, including our decisions in those moments and how they impacted us. So, by reflecting on these, we try to learn to make better, healthier decisions.
The apostle Paul was a master of reflection. He encourages us to regularly practice this as we read his letters to the Christians and early church. I think a great example of is in Philippians 4:8-9 (ESV)
(vs 8) "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. "
To think on means to reflect on. Some Bible versions use words like, meditate, dwell, consider, and keep thinking. So you understand that we are using purposefull mental activity. Then Paul tells us what to do with these thoughts: (v9)
"What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."
So how does reflection benefit my hope in life?
In a spiritual sense, we must read and reflect on God's word. Ask ourselves what God is saying, what it means, and how does it impact or direct my life.
We should learn to spend time in prayer. Prayer is a major action of reflection. I'm not necessarily speaking about when we pray to our Lord for something we need in our life. But it could be during that time as well. Prayer time is where we can look internally and see how our actions, attitudes, and feelings impact on our relationship with God. We seek to understand why we do or think things. We are communicating with God in an open and honest way.
It is also important to associate with other Christians seeking to become more Christ like as they pray and reflect upon God's word. Fellow seekers help strengthen us and support us in our daily growth.
These activities of reflection should be daily activities. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to carve out a significant amount of time for these activities, although deep reflection should be done on occasion. It means developing the ability to look at a current situation and reflect upon it. I read an article that referred to this as reflecting on the go.
These reflective periods involve looking at issues at hand and seeking to understand their impact. We can think about whether we did the right thing in the situation. What could we have done better? What were my motives and how do they relate God's will? Do I need to repair a relationship with someone or offer someone an apology for my actions?
These questions help us to take a step back and review our life. I don't mean to imply we are always doing the wrong thing or thinking the wrong thing. In fact, we might find we are living and acting as our Lord wills. It is just as valuable to recognize that. We are celebrating the Spirit of God acting in our life to help us grow spiritually. We don't do so in a prideful way, rather we humbly thank God for helping us grow.
I like to start my day with prayer that includes seeking God's wisdom in helping me with the decisions I will make in the day. Then I like to look back each evening and reflect on my activities to see if I've glorified God and shown Him to others in a positive way that helps them seek Him.
I mentioned setting aside time each day. I also recommend we set aside time each week. A good time to do this might be Sunday morning. As you might be sitting quietly and enjoying a cup of coffee think about the meaning of this day as you prepare for worship and the start of a new week. I offer apologies to those moms and dads with younger children that find this time chaotic.
As we spend time in this weekly reflection, think about setting a weekly goal for spiritual growth. There may be some general growth areas such as we want to be more knowledgeable of God's word in a specific area. Or perhaps we want to show growth in an area of spiritual weakness or in overcoming a barrier to our spiritual growth.
There are other more specific things we can do. For example, we can perform a random act of kindness. Involve ourselves in an area of service to others. Hold back commenting on something we are feeling negative about. Say words of kindness or offer a smile to a stranger.
The idea is to push ourselves beyond our current level of spiritual maturity and comfort. Athletes know that to grow in strength and stamina, they must excel beyond their current level. A weightlifter will add more weight. A runner will add more distance. Athletes will seek opponents with equal or greater skill in their field of endeavor. In a spiritual sense, we do that as we reflect on our life as compared to our Lord's will. We seek to grow spiritually so as to be a better servant for our Lord.
As I started this podcast episode, I mentioned that we were looking at the relationship of hope and reflection. As I begin to close this episode, I want to address that specifically.
True and lasting hope is found in our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. He alone offers us true and lasting hope. That hope is now as we have confident assurance that we are children of God and citizens in His kingdom.
As we reflect upon our life, we look at how we are living in light of what God wills for us. His will is simple to understand. We are first to seek that relationship with Him through faith, we commit to changing our life to do His will over ours, and then we act upon our faith initially through our baptism by immersion in water. That is only the beginning. We then continue to commit to living according to His teachings.
We should seek to continue to grow spiritually to the point that all the thoughts and actions of our life reflect the will of God. We seek to grow to the point that when others see us, they see Christ. We reflect His love, compassion, grace, and forgiveness.
Friends, this is a lifetime endeavor that requires constant attention and being on guard of our lives. The great thing is that as we seek to live by God's will, we are not alone. We have a God that understands our efforts and shortcomings and offers us hope by promising to reward our faithfulness. We have our fellow Christians that are also journeying to hope.
In closing, I offer one of the greatest promises of our Lord found in scripture. It is found in 1 John 1:5-9 (ESV).
"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Remember, no one walks alone.