Day 22
Spreading Hope
There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. [Proverbs 23:18]
Management guru Ken Blanchard once led a training session for retail workers where he talked about the power of encouraging words.
About a month later, his office got a call from a man named Johnny, who said, “I was at your seminar. I’m nineteen. I have Down Syndrome. I work as a bagger at a grocery store and I liked your talk, but didn’t know what I could do. Well, I got an idea. Every day I come up with a statement that’s encouraging. If I can’t find one in a quote book I have, I make it up. I print it out on 300 slips of paper.” Johnny said he signs them all, and the next day puts them into his customer’s bags as he says, “Here is something special for you!”
After another month Blanchard’s office got another call, this time from Johnny’s store manager who reported, “Something amazing is happening. We always have lots of check stands open, but the line where Johnny’s bagging often goes all the way back to the frozen food section. A customer told one of our supervisors, ‘I used to only shop once a week. Now I shop almost every day, just to get Johnny’s quote!’”
After yet another month, the manager called again and said, “This is changing the entire culture of our store: Like, when a flower was broken, we used to just throw it away. Now I watch as our clerks pin those flowers onto elderly women or little girls just to brighten their day. People are looking for ways they can be like Johnny and give people some encouragement!”
Johnny the grocery bagger is speaking words of hope that are changing his store’s culture. If it can happen at a grocery store, it can happen in your family, at your workplace, in your church. Speak words of hope! Look for ways your deeds can spread hope, too!
Today’s verse is a great example: A father tells a son troubled by evildoers, “There is surely a future hope for you….” Simple, encouraging words and deeds backed up by scriptural promises will change lives!
This week we’ll emphasize spreading hope. Of this you can be certain: Every single person you see needs a dose of hope today!
Question to Consider
How can I spread hope through my words and deeds in specific ways this week?
Prayer
Lord, help me be a channel of Your hope to everyone around me today!
