HOPE Again!
I’ve been thinking about HOPE and the importance of it in EVERYONE’S life. As we live life, one can quite easily lose HOPE in life, in God, and even in oneself. Despair is often recurring and spirals us into depression and helplessness, leading to even greater despair. The result is that one sad thing leads to another and so on, until we feel that we can’t possibly break free. It can all be a bit too much for our souls to handle. We become HOPELESS.
We know that pain is inevitable, and while we may say that we know good can come out of it, what hurts still hurts.
As humans, we need HOPE. We can’t live without it. It is the lifeblood to our survival, and the only thing that pulls us out of the deep trenches of the pain and hurt of life. HOPE transcends faith traditions and is the candle in the heart of each human. For some it shines bright while for others, their HOPE is flickering or worse snuffed out entirely. There is always HOPE. We must see it, share it and set it on fire in our hearts and the hearts of others.
“Faith and HOPE are closely linked, but different. HOPE is a precursor to faith. While faith is believing and trusting in something that you cannot see, HOPE is imagining that there is something there to even believe and trust in. HOPE is the belief in what could be. HOPE redefines what is probable and opens the paths to the impossible. Faith is putting your trust in God to help in a financial difficulty, but HOPE opens the door to even let yourself consider that there may be a way out of your problem. Without HOPE, there can be no faith, because we would not even begin to pray about those things we could not imagine.”
HOPE is so fundamental to how we approach our lives. Erwin McManus, in his book Soul Cravings states: “…HOPE is essential for our souls to thrive.” and “If you don’t believe you have a future worth living for, your spirit loses all HOPE, and your soul was not designed to live without HOPE. In fact, when we lose all HOPE, we lose all desire to live.”
If you find yourself without HOPE in any area of your life, don’t linger there. Put your HOPE in God.
HOPE lifts my eyes. HOPE lets me see what could be. HOPE tells me there is more. HOPE forces me to keep walking, searching, longing, loving…HOPE leads to faith.
That’s why HOPE is so important. Believing in myself or in the people around me will bring disappointment. But, allowing HOPE to lead me to faith means that life is about more then me and my life. It’s about things eternal.
I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a HOPE. Jeremiah 29:11
Real Hope for Real Life – Pastor Nathan