July 2024 From the Desk of Dave McLean

Simple Math

I took a fair amount of math in school and college, but I find it’s the simple math that I use the most, particularly in the faith.  The equation I find I reference most in my counselling is: Vision + Discipline = Hope.  It is a very simple math formula, but it is the difference between hope and despair.  Let’s take a closer look.

1. Vision.  Proverbs 29:18 says; “Where there is no vision, the people perish [are unrestrained]: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” [brackets added-typ].  Where we don’t have vision connected to our Lord through His Word and the direction of His Holy Spirit, we are left with our own humanistic vision, or as this verse tells us, we will perish or go unrestrained.  When I counsel, the first thing I seek to do is to give vision.  Vision is found in God’s wisdom and heart, which is found through dwelling in His Word and in Him. 

John 15:7 “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”  The key is abiding in Him and His Word, and aligning our will with His; it is here that we gain success and hope.  I spend a lot of time working with those who have little or no vision, discipline and hope.  They desire it, they just don’t know how to obtain it. 

It can be hard for people to conceive that success is found in reading God’s word and building a relationship with a God they cannot visibly see.  And yet, He is so real and invested in those that invest in Him; Vision and Faith go hand in hand.  The more we see Him, the greater our faith, and the greater our faith, the more we’ll see Him.  This will strengthen our Discipline and bring us Hope.

2. Discipline.  When I talk about discipline, I’m talking about developing Godly disciplines and habits in our lives.  This is the important part, because the inverse to our first equation is also true: Vision – Discipline = Frustration or despair.  Developing Godly disciplines is what brings hope out of our frustrations.  If we have vision, but we don’t develop Godly disciplines, we have a hard and frustrating road to walk.  John 14:21 “He that hath my commandments [Vision], and keepeth them [Discipline], he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father [Hope], and I will love him, and will manifest [show] myself to him [Greater Vision].” 

He is not expecting us to accomplish great things- He’ll do that- but He does desire the relationship, and that is developed by abiding in Him.  Apart from the relationship, what else matters?  John 15:5  “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”  The key is us abiding in Him and Him abiding in us, and we must remember that apart from being connected to God, we cannot accomplish the desires of God!

I am convinced that we don’t abide in Him because we don’t know Him, because the more I have gotten to know Him, the more I’m inspired to abide with Him.  Such is the problem between that which we see and that which we don’t “see”.  As the cares of the world fill our lives, the cares of God are more easily pushed aside, because they are less seen in our lives.  But the more we abide in Him and less in the distractions of this world, the greater will be our Hope.

3.  Hope.  Proverbs 13:12 says; “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”  Hope, or the lack thereof is the difference between a sick heart and a tree of life.  I see this lived out before my eyes on a daily basis, and it is real.  I believe so many people are disillusioned with God because they lack hope, and yet they lack hope because they are disconnected from the very source of hope: God!  Our lack of vision and Godly disciplines bring consequences into our lives that defer or stifle our hope.  We blame God for our failures and hopelessness, and yet He so desires for us to rise above them.

The Lord wants us to rest and walk in His hope, and this is best accomplished in shaping our lives around His truth and ways.  Life will bring trials and struggles, but we must be careful to not bring them upon ourselves.  We cannot defy our God and still expect His blessings in our lives.  And having hope in our Lord does not mean that all will go as we desire, but it does mean that we have the hope of facing our trials with our Lord.  Abiding in Him is where hope is found and maintained.  Hope in God is not based upon simple wishes, it is the blessed result of obedience; it is the reward and surety of dwelling in God.

Seeing God more clearly as who He truly is, is so important, because without this Vision, there is no motivation for change.  I can avoid many consequences and curses, experience the blessings of God, and please God, simply by pursuing and loving my Lord.  Hope in God is not simply wishes, it is the result of an intimate relationship between man and God.  Not believing and living this can bring grief and make the heart sick.

Our Hope is a Hope that is grounded in our Creator, Savior, and Deliverer.  It’s a Hope that cannot be shaken by earthly things below.  Our Hope sees beyond sight and time; our Hope is grounded in His Spiritual realm and His Eternal realm.  We must see our God as He is and as we more clearly see our God, our Hope will grow and lift us above the surrounding hopelessness.

Vision helps us to see our God, Discipline helps us to know our God, and Hope helps us to glorify our God.  We must have and live Hope to share Hope!  As you go through your day, take notice of your neighbor’s condition, and if they are sinking in their cares and struggles, come beside them and lead them to the source of Hope Eternal!  Give them Hope that will heal their heart and lead them to the tree of life!  They just need Vision + Discipline to reach the right conclusion of Hope!  It’s simple math, and that’s my kind of math.  Amen?  Amen!