Get Your Hopes UpSample

DAY 4: EMBRACE CHANGE

Have you ever gone the wrong way without knowing it at first? Maybe you went to the wrong aisle in the store and realized you needed bread, not cereal. Or maybe you went on a trip and didn’t know you’d made a wrong turn until you were an hour into the drive.

No shame; it happens to everyone. Even Saul didn’t know he was on the wrong path until he encountered God on the road to Damascus.

Saul wasn’t the nicest guy. He actively persecuted Christians, and was going to Damascus to capture any believers he could find. But on the road, Saul was confronted by Jesus, who gave him some stern instructions and left him completely blind. The people traveling with him had to lead him into Damascus, where he was healed after three days by a Christian named Ananias.

Saul never expected to have an encounter like that when he set off for Damascus. But his experiences on the road and in the city changed his life.

Saul got baptized soon after he got his sight back and almost immediately began to tell others about Jesus. He even changed his name to Paul to represent the complete 180 his life and purpose had taken.

Despite his past as a huge threat to early Christians, Paul went on to become one of the most influential missionaries in history, and wrote almost half the books in the New Testament. God took him on a path he didn’t expect and used his life to reach countless people — more than Paul probably ever dreamed.

It’s scary to think we might not end up with the spouse, job, family, or life that we want, but God’s plans are always bigger and better than ours. God rarely does what we expect, but He can be trusted to do more than we could ask or imagine.

How can you be open to God’s plans this year and the changes He may require of you? Take some time to write down some areas where you know you need to grow and change. Then, pray and ask God to work in your life and help you accept and embrace the bigger and better things He has in store for you.