Like love and faith our hope grows and blossoms (1 Corinthians 13:13). One of the ways we can nurture hope in our lives is through thankfulness. Identifying the simplest things in our lives and thanking our Father God for them fosters hope, even when we are buried beneath the trials of life. This is also true for our patients struggling with illnesses and diseases. When we struggle to find something to be thankful for, we can pause and thank the Creator for our existence and the necessities of air and water for life. No matter what our situation or our patient’s circumstances there is always something to be thankful for.
An excellent passage for thankfulness is Psalm 136. Famous for its repetitive refrain “his steadfast love endures forever” or “his loving kindness endures forever,” the psalm states “Give thanks to the Lord for…he is good…God of gods…does great wonders, etc. The psalm continues with a history lesson of the Israelite s relationship with God. This is our Lord, who has and continues to write a historical narrative in our lives. We discover the sustained hope when we remember how the Lord has worked in our past (Lam 3:21).
Take time this week and read Psalm 136 and “Give thanks to the Lord for __________________ filling in the blank with how the Lord has demonstrated his “steadfast love” in recently in your life.
p.s. Want to discover how to encourage hope for your patients? Check out three articles from the Journal of Christian Nursing. Importance of Hope; When Hope is Lost Part 1 & Part 2.
International JCN online Order–click here! only $37 USD
Journal of Christian Nursing
Carrie Dameron 