Last month we talked about the fact that unity brings encouragement. We discovered that encouragement provides an incredible amount of strength and support. That strength and support now becomes the driving force behind one’s determination to succeed at whatever it is they put their hand to.
This month I would like to stress yet another result of unity. Not only does unity produce encouragement, but unity produces hope. When people feel encouraged and supported, they begin to become overcome with an awesome sense of hope. Knowing that someone is in your corner; knowing that someone has your back; knowing that someone is behind you 100 percent starts to make you feel like you can actually accomplish whatever it is you are setting out to do. This feeling of support starts to give you a glimpse of success even before the success is achieved. Early on, you start to have feelings of victory and a sense of confidence that was not present prior to the unity and support that you now feel. It is amazing how unity produces encouragement and how that encouragement in turn produces hope. The level of hope produced is simply phenomenal. I have heard stories of people who were fighting for their life, without any positive prognosis from the doctor, yet when they felt the unity from a loved one, that unity produced encouragement, and that encouragement produced a hope in that individual which stirred up an incredible will and determination to fight for their life and succeed regardless of the odds. I have seen this same hope cause people to rise from nothing to more than enough. I have seen this same hope cause people to get up from their negative situation and turn their entire life around. This same hope is what can turn a test into a testimony. This same hope heals relationships. This same hope gives people a reason to live. This same hope gives people better jobs after a painful layoff. This same hope helps people keep fighting and pressing forward despite the economy. This same hope gives people a reason to keep their head up despite all of the negative information we are fed in regards to the state of our nation. This hope says, “I don’t care what’s going on around me, I will make it through…I will be victorious…I will succeed.” This same hope says, “Everything may not be going the way that I want it to go, but the fact of the matter is that I’m still here. And since I’m still here, I’m going to keep fighting. I may have been knocked down, but I haven’t been knocked out.” I better stop before I start preaching!!!
What does this hope stem from? It stems from us making up in our minds that no matter what, we must have unity. We must come together and support each other; because that support leads to encouragement and that encouragement leads to hope.
Look for part four next month in the December issue of the Magazine.
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