God puts rainbows in the clouds so that each of us – in the dreariest, most dreadful moments – can see the possibility of hope.
~Maya Angelou
God is doing something beautiful; He is awakening hope.
A new year grants us the opportunity for a fresh start. It’s a gift given to allow us to reflect, release, and refocus.
What I enjoy most about this time of year, more than the resolutions, vision boards, and words or buzz phrases of the year, is the fresh positive energy that I sense all around. There is this collective sense, even if temporary, that,
A N Y T H I N G | I S | P O S S I B L E!
Do you know what that energy really is? It’s HOPE bursting in our hearts, breaking through the clouds of our deepest regrets, fears, and disappointments from the previous year!
Hope is like a rainbow emerging after the most treacherous, life-altering storms. After a storm, it is the rainbow that reminds us that the storm, no matter how difficult, was never meant to annihilate us.
The rainbow reminds us that no matter how dark, how scary, and how uncertain it felt, God never left.
Perhaps 2019 left you feeling as if you were drowning in the depths of disappointment. Maybe it left you feeling doubtful about your significance in the world, or the purpose God has for your life.
Maybe even now, as you have scrolled through Social Media, looking at everyone’s smiling faces and inspiring declarations for this year, you’re not bursting with feelings of hope about your own life. I want to let you know, it’s okay. You don’t have to have it all figured out right now. BUT, you also don’t have to spend another moment in the darkness of despair.
Y O U | C A N | C H O O S E | L I G H T| N O W
Yep right now, even though you don’t feel like it, you can move forward. I know because I had my share of challenges in 2019. I battled some identity issues, and I also engaged in and overcame a health battle. While in the throes of fear, during these battles, I allowed my mind to wander to some very dark places. I spent the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2019 waddling in regret, tormented by doubt and shame, and unclear about my future.
As the 4th quarter approached, I made a decision to move out of the darkness that I had spent majority of the year in. I want to stress that it was a DECISION, not a FEELING. This is important because on October 1st, I did not feel anything different, but I decided that I would not allow the entire year to pass me by, and with that decision, I started to move.
I intentionally put one foot in front of the other each day toward the goals that I’d set for October – when I felt like it and when I didn’t. Before I knew it October turned to new goals in November, November transitioned into even bigger goals in December, and now, here I am having entered into a new year, more determined than ever to see what I will do for God in this year!
What happened?
I chose light, I chose Hope, I chose to see the RAINBOW!
I am sharing this because I want you to know that there is a Rainbow Blessing for you as well, but you have to make the decision. You have to dare to look away from your present reality, which is temporary, and look to God’s promises over your life, which are PERMANENT! If you look really close, I assure you that there is light breaking through your clouds. God never leaves us, but sometimes we don’t see or sense Him because we’re looking in the wrong direction.
Will you dare to look away from what’s temporary and focus on what is Eternal?
The reason looking away is so important is because what you dedicate your focus to gets LARGER. When I was looking at everything that had not happened, and how behind I felt I was, discouragement grew larger and larger, until all I could do was be consumed by regret and feelings of inadequacy. And let’s be real, how can you possibly move forward, when regret, doubt, shame, and feelings of inadequacy are consuming you?? BUT, the moment that I shifted my focus to God,
E V E R Y T H I N G – C H A N G E D!
We don’t look away because we are in denial, we look away because we understand that our current state is TEMPORARY! We look away as a step of faith to agree with God, instead of being consumed by what we see.
The truth is some things God will deliver you from, other things you will have to square your shoulders and walk through. Either way, it’s all temporary, and if you keep your eyes on Jesus, if you keep your ears toward Him, you will see His promise, You will hear the love song that He sings over you, You will experience the beauty of the – The Rainbow – larger and brighter than your present situation.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
~Hebrews 12:1-2
Hebrews 12:1-2 is one of my life passages. Whenever I find myself in a hard place, if I can gather up the courage to read this passage, I find myself ignited to move my feet because this passage has the exact 3 steps that I need to take.
- THROW OFF everything that hinders AND the sin that entangles – What do you need to throw off? What mindset is hindering you?
- RUN – PERSEVERE – Start moving, don’t linger to think about it, just move, take the next step. What can you do today, what step can you take? What step can you take tomorrow? Get moving, not because anything has changed naturally, but because nothing will change, if you don’t MOVE!
- LOOK AT JESUS – Do what Jesus Did!!!! – Jesus endured the shame, the pain, the pure disrespect and cruelty of the cross, not because He dwelled on that part of his journey, He endured because He kept His eyes on the Joy that was coming NEXT! You have to fix you eyes on What’s Next, and keep moving toward it, second-by-second, minute-by-minute, until seconds turn to days, and days turn to months…
Keep moving Until what once threatened to suffocate you, until what you thought would KILL you is such a distant memory, that all you can do is rejoice because of the glory God graced you to walk into.
Let me tell you something, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. I need you to refuse to be stagnant, because you have NO IDEA what God will do in your life in 1 day when you shift your focus. I need you to Throw Off , Run Toward, and Look To, because you have no idea what you have been destined to conquer in 2020!
I need you to lift your head because you are still here, and God is not wasteful, so if you’re here, then Baby, there is still a version of yourself that God wants you to meet.
There is a Rainbow Blessing in store for you. The Rainbow represents covenant – God’s unbreakable promise to you and I. When I see a rainbow in the sky after the rain, I rejoice because it reminds me that after all this time, God is STILL in the Promise-keeping business!!
My heart for you is that you would refuse to agree with any thought, report, suggestion, or Word that God has not said about you.
As for me, I am still in a waiting season, believing God for some things to manifest in my life that ONLY HE CAN DO. And I know this, God has NEVER shied away from a MIRACLE, so I am finding pleasure in trusting His Time-Table. I also suspect that He has already dreamed a larger dream for my life than I can even fathom, and at the end of the day, I want what He wants for my life more than I want what I want for my life.
I am also sure that God’s Goodness is immortal. I am confident that His goodness is Undefeated. And when I sense discouragement getting too close to me, I have learned to anchor my heart to God’s Goodness, that’s my stability.
And In the meantime, while I wait, I am getting after what I know He has designed me to do,
RESUSCITATE HOPE IN THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO ARE ON SPIRITUAL LIFE SUPPORT
I am always interested to hear from you! Please share a comment below, OR, EMAIL ME 💕… Also follow the blog, newness is coming all year!! ✨
Until Next Time, sending you love, courage, and MORE COURAGE.
Sincerely,
Delanea Davis
I_Am_Hope_Reviver
I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”So God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.'” ~Genesis 9:15-17
Hope Notes 