Extravagant Hope

The prophet Jeremiah says God has extravagant possibilities for you and me. Every once in a while we feel the Spirit pulling us to do something new, something rare, something good. There’s a relentless spontaneity about it. Every once in a while we should act on impulse with just the faintest impression that we heard God say, “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Brett Younger writes, “No day is without the possibility of a unique opportunity. If we keep asking, ‘What peculiar thing might God want from me?’ we’ll find ways to adore God.

“Try telling God,” Younger says, “that you want to live an out of the ordinary day. Pray more than an ordinary prayer. Pray that God will empty you of everything that isn’t love. Speak an extravagant word of grace to someone. Look for words so lavish that their face and yours will turn red. Read the Bible. Do something for your church that you’ve never done. Pick something that frightens you. Stir things up. Be the one who mentions Jesus during deacons’ meetings.

“Speak to someone to whom you’ve gotten used to not speaking. Sell something and give the money to feed hungry children. Give more than a reasonable amount. Be open to all kinds of extravagant possibilities. God may invite you to go beyond what’s reasonable. God will lead us to become better thinkers, better ministers, better Christians, to love the church, love Christ.”

These words about living on extravagant hope are for you, my New Hope family. Our church came into being 15 years ago this month. The God who called us into being wants to give us “a future with hope.”