Preached @ Metro 8th January 2006 by Julia Banks

We often set goals and make commitments to relationships or tasks, but when things don't work out the way we want them too, or challenges come our way, we tend to make decisions that lead us away from seeing these things through.

If we look at some of the changing trends in society, we can see the reality of this:

• divorce rate is up 10% on what it was 10 years ago, and 22% on 20 years ago.
• 15% people changed jobs in the last year (26% of 20-24 year olds changed in the last year)
• In the last five years 42% of the population of Australia changed their place of residence.

We are a generation who live for the moment - it is all about how we feel. It is no longer good enough “if the shoe fits”, now it is “if it makes me feel good too”.

Change is something that we have become so used to, that we don’t tend to think too much about changing things in our lives. When we hit bumpy times, or things aren’t working for us the way we want them too, or we’re just bored - it is easier to move on.

HOPE – the sticking factor

Hope is the glue that sticks us to our goals. From the statistics above, we can see that this generation does not live with an inherent sense of hope. We’re more inclined to resign ourselves to the way things are, and not see the possibility of change.

But we are not limited by the culture of our society. We don’t have to let it dictate how we live.

We have Jesus, the greatest hope of the world. Jesus came to bring change, to restore, heal and set free the broken hearted. In Jesus we have hope and faith to believe for something beyond what we can see.

As we read the bible, this promise of hope comes through again and again.

Ro 15:13  Oh! May the God of hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!

Col 1:5  The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope.

When we live in this hope, we have the power to overcome obstacles, and to see things through.

How do we apply “stickability” to our lives?

1.    Put the past behind you

Hope is all about the future, what could be. Putting the past behind you means putting off negativity and doubt and adopting a positive attitude. We need to stop looking at our circumstances and letting them dictate our attitude, but fix our eyes on Jesus and begin to see what could be.

2.  Add value to the situation

We can’t just keep on doing the same thing. God is not interested in us just hanging in there for the sake of appearances. His desire is that we bear fruit and in order to be fruitful there must be change. We need to invest something positive into the situation to begin to see change.

We know the scripture, “Where your money is so your heart will be also”, well it is the same for our time and energy. As you start to invest something of yourself into the situation, your will begin to see positive change, within yourself and often the person/situation.

3.  Share the journey with others

We are not meant to go through the struggles of this life alone. God has placed us in a family to provide support and encouragement.  (Ecclesiastes 4:12 By yourself you're unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst.)

Ask yourself:

Q. What do you need to stick at?
Q. What have you let go of, need to pick up again?
Q. What do you need to renew your commitment to?