Exercise Hope

Feb 02 2015 Exercise Hope

“But as for me, I will hope continually and will praise You yet more and more.”  Psalm 71:14 NASB

My sister Jeni LOVES to exercise. Rarely a day goes by without a workout, it is intrinsic to her identity.

Not me. Although I enjoy exercise, I have to work at working out. I need to plan it into my day or it won’t happen. Exercise is an exercise in planning and diligence.

As a child, Jeni hated exercise (we both did). I remember tears on hikes, sudden illnesses before the “100 Yard Dash” at school, and creative excuses made to get out of many torturous exercise events.

Because of continuous workouts over decades, my sister is now a pro! She went from a little girl crying on hikes to becoming a distance runner and has enjoyed a career in the exercise industry. As a result of habits ingrained over time, Fitness is now a part of her personality.

Many of us are this way when it comes to praising God. It’s not inherent to immediately think and speak words of hope and praise when the storms of life come. Instead, we go to our default mechanisms. Some of my defaults come in the form of discouragement or questions like, “Me again” or “Why God?”

The Psalmist says in chapter seventy-one, verse fourteen, that he will hope continually and praise the Lord yet more and more. Hmmm…  to continually hope and praise the Lord more and more.  This doesn’t come naturally to my sometimes melancholy personality.

I enjoy reading about Christian Saints in history and the Bible. It comforts me to know that many of them weren’t natural “praisers.” They trained themselves to do this through the power of the Holy Spirit and habit. Eventually, it became their default response, and they became people overflowing with hope and praise.

 Like my sister, they did not begin as they finished.

Hope and praise can become deep-seated in us by exercising our faith muscles, as the Saints did.

Let’s begin with diligence and intention. Here are a few practical steps:

~ Scripture memorization- choose verses that focus on Praise

~ Daily praise and thanksgiving- I use a journal to record mine

~Become intimate with those who walk in hope and praise- they will rub off on you

~ Dedicate yourself to God daily

~ Evaluate in prayer at night

~ Do it again, the next day and the next and the next… until…

It is you who are rubbing off on those around you in Praise and Hope.

So here’s to our first laps,  knowing we will not end where we started.