August 8, 2025

Rhythms that Ripple

There are few motivators more powerful than hope. It allows sports fans to keep rooting for teams that haven't made it to the playoffs in years. It compels people to dream beyond their circumstances and aspire to bigger and better things. And hope is a cornerstone of the Christian experience, anchoring trust in God today and a longing for eternity with him in heaven.

The problem, of course, is that declaring hope requires waiting. After all, "hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently"  (Romans 8:24-25; NIV). Fortunately, Paul continues with, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans" (Romans 8:26; NIV). Patience isn't a defect within hope. It's part of the design. And we are not left alone, as the Holy Spirit stands as an advocate in our waiting.

What is one significant thing that you hope for--and why? Write it down and then pray. Ask God to bring that hope to reality, and to give you resolve, patience, and trust while you wait.

I suspect that you may be a bit confused by the fact that I’m continuing here, but the devotion above isn’t the main point of this article—or at least not in the way you might expect. This article is intended to get you thinking about God, his Word, and his interaction in your life. But it will hopefully push you even further in the way you are living those out in your daily routine.

As you probably know, we are in the middle of a series about spiritual rhythms. One of the early topics was focused on worship that emphasized the importance of making personal connections with God. That topic resonated with me and challenged me to respond in a practical way—and my hope is that you have had many similar experiences throughout this series.

It may be helpful for context to know that I’m a dad of a 24-year-old, a 20-year-old, and a 15-years-old. As is probably pretty common for parents, I found my mind straying to my kids more than myself that Sunday and it was a rather sad reminder that my direct influence on their spiritual walks is quickly and dramatically waning.

But then some important truths hit me. Maybe it was the Holy Spirit, maybe it was common sense, but the implications were clear. My influence is not completely diminished. My kids are growing up in a culture that is sprinting away from Christian values. And doing something to encourage their faith—no matter how small—would be far superior to doing nothing.

So, I decided in that moment that I would start a rhythm of my own. I resolved to find a way to remind my family on a consistent basis how important it is to spend time with God and be in the Word—and to provide them an easy way to make those activities a priority. The devotion you read at the beginning of this article was the solution.

It doesn’t happen every day, but I now write a devotion several times a week that highlights a practical topic, presents a Bible passage, guides self-reflection, and prompts an action-oriented response. Then I just copy and paste it into a family text group and hit send. This puts the Bible in my family’s hands and demonstrates to them that I am personally prioritizing time with God.

Those outcomes are worth considering because they are practical, achievable, and important for every Christian. You can show others that time with God is an important activity in your daily routine, and you can help people in your realm of influence connect with God more regularly and more intentionally.

You don’t need to write devotions to achieve those goals, but you will have to act. Brainstorm creative solutions. Ask other people to share their strategies. Then act. And whatever you choose to adopt as your solution, you will need to model commitment and consistency over a long period of time to cement it into a habit for you and to demonstrate a clear pattern for them.

Remember…doing something—anything—is better than doing nothing.

Jeff Derico

Executive Pastor

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