Faith Hope Love Repeat Mother's Day Devotional by Brandon HeathSample

Day 2 – Hope

But there will be days when you lose your faith 

There will be nights when you give up hope 

Disappointment and pain and you’ll flirt with the shame 

So you’ll call me from the end of your rope 

There’s a fantastic quote for today’s devotional from Rev. Robert H. Schuller – “Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.” 

One of our prayers is that our daughter always lets her hopes shape her future. If she experiences pain, we pray that she keeps that in her past and keeps her eyes on the Lord, not letting those disappointments or regrets shape her or how she sees the world. Revelation 21:4 (NIV) says, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 

This is also my prayer for all parents. We all make mistakes. None of us are perfect at being parents, but we can’t let this impact the way that we continue to be parents or put a shadow on how we see the world and our relationship with God. He wants us to live in the freedom of the grace that He’s given us so we need to have grace with ourselves. 

As Christians, our hope isn’t just thinking happy thoughts or wishing on a star. There is a hymn written in 1834 with a great verse that says, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.” Our hope is built on the solid Rock of Christ! 

Prayer:

Dear Lord, thank you for giving us hope. Thank you for being the solid Rock you are. Teach us and our children to let our hopes shape our future. Amen.

Practice: 

Write out three to five areas of pain or hurt in your life that you blame yourself for that continue to impact you. Each day this weekend, pray for God’s grace, then one by one, forgive yourself of each area.