Goodbye Doubt, Hello Hope.

My beautiful, undignified friend Jessi Marquez is starting a "Kick the Habit" campaign for the month of August. The idea is to get rid of some nasty mind trap you've got yourself in and overcome it.

So I'm kicking doubt.

When doubt shows up, it manifests itself in mental and emotional states of fear, worry, and self-centeredness that weigh on me and suck up my time and attention. Time and focus are precious things that should be guarded--not hoarded selfishly, but protected--because they are vehicles through which your life is poured out on others, through love, sacrifice, and work. I'm tired of watching amazing opportunities pass me by because I have given doubt the authority to dwell in my mind.

Over the past few weeks, I've been slammed with it (as well as all of its crippling corollaries). BUT, for the first time in my life, I've experienced the reality of invisible arms of strength coming alongside and beneath me, giving me the ability to stand firm and not be shaken. That strength, I believe, is rooted in hope.

I've been intrigued by the concept of hope this whole summer. The virtue of hope isn't emphasized much, but it's right up there with faith and love in Corinthians 13. Faith itself is described as being "sure of what we hope for." What do I hope for? How can I be absolutely sure of what I hope for?

...by anchoring it somewhere solid.

We can set our hope on things that are momentary and flaky, or continuous with promise. Hope deferred can "make the heart sick" when it doesn't come through, or it can regenerate the spirit with sureness and confidence. So, growing in the virtue of hope means to rightly divide between the real deal and it's smiling counterfeits.

Practically, kicking the habit of doubt means standing on the promises of God when my whims and emotions tell me to do otherwise. I give Christ full control over my thought-life. I'm putting time in my schedule to remind myself what it is I'm hoping for--by reading things that inspire me, remembering God's call on my life, and moving in that direction with the small lamp set in front of me.

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him."

HOPE-fully (ha), by the end of this month, I won't be the slave to doubt I was at the beginning.