Day 239: 8/27/13- Living the Proverbs Week: Day One

Day 239: 8/27/13-  Living the Proverbs Week: Day One   
New Thing:  Live without Worry Trusting in the Hope of God Today Inspiration: Women's Bible Study     
Time: All Day   
Bottom Line: Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life."

Reflection: The Women's Bible Study has decided to band together and pick out a proverb to live out each day. The ladies all gave me suggestions about which verses they would like to try and I put together a collection of meditation suggestions. Here is day one:
 
Day One : Live without Worry Trusting in the Hope of God Today
Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life."
Suggested Ways to Live this Out —

Art Meditation: Make a “hope tree” by drawing the outline of a tree that has God at its roots. On each leaf, write one hope for your life and for the life of others that you are trusting in God to bring to life. Pray over this tree and then set it totally in God’s hands knowing that his will will be done.

Prayer: Use this prayer From Forward Movement to help start your day off with the right hopeful and non-anxious intuition.

A Morning Resolve I will try this day to live a simple, sincere and serene life, repelling promptly every thought of discontent, anxiety, discouragement, impurity, and self-seeking; cultivating cheerfulness, magnanimity, charity, and the habit of holy silence; exercising economy in expenditure, generosity in giving, carefulness in conversation, diligence in appointed service, fidelity to every trust, and a childlike faith in God. In particular I will try to be faithful in those habits of prayer, work, study, physical exercise, eating, and sleep which I believe the Holy Spirit has shown me to be right. And as I cannot in my own strength do this, nor even with a hope of success attempt it, I look to thee, O Lord God my Father, in Jesus my Savior, and ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Action: Make a “worry box’ that you can put all your worries in written on pieces of paper during the day. Write Proverbs 13:12 on the box and remember that God replaces our heart sickness with hope.

For my personal practice, I used the worry box idea which is not new to me, but I found it a real comfort as always trying to let my anxieties be placed in God's hands. As Christians, we can look at the tree of life and remember that Jesus was hung on that tree for us giving us all hope and joy.