Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope,” (AMPC).
Over the last 45-plus years I’ve spent traveling and teaching God’s Word around the world, I’ve met many incredible people from nearly every walk of life. Some were doing great, seemingly on top of the world. Others confided in me that they were barely getting by, living day-to-day, trying to make ends meet. And many others were dealing with circumstances so difficult that, quite frankly, they felt defeated and overwhelmed by life.
We will all battle hopelessness at some point in our lives. And no matter who we are or what our situation, HOPE is one thing we all desperately need. The reason is: hope is powerful!
Hope is more than a motivational thought or a fading daydream—hope is a nothing-is-impossible-with-God firestorm refusing to be quenched. It’s an awareness that God is actually expecting, looking and longing to show you His goodness. Hope is what stabilizes your frantic thoughts and emotions—it’s an awareness that there is no problem big enough to keep God from rescuing you.
These days, it’s easy to be worn down by hopelessness. People lose hope when they experience overwhelming loss, repeated failures, impossible situations or when they’re hurt by people they trust. Like most of you, I understand what it’s like to feel hopeless. I spent 23 years of my life filled with pain, abuse, disappointment, unfaithfulness and one bad thing after another.
Because of this, I wouldn’t get my hopes up. I used to say, “If I don’t expect anything good to happen, I won’t be disappointed when it doesn’t.” But when I got serious about my relationship with God and began studying His Word, I discovered real hope. I learned why hope is important, and how powerful hope can be.
Hope is a positive expectation that something good is going to happen to you because of God’s great goodness. It is not a wishy-washy, vague, wait-and-see attitude, but an action we must choose to take on purpose each day. Hope and faith go hand in hand.
Hope also enables us to endure hardships and long waiting periods, and God uses these times to develop character and endurance in us. Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord,” (AMPC).
Hope dares us to believe! It thinks, “You know what? Things might just work out after all.” It’s the sometimes unexplainable, but always undeniable, feeling that today would be a bad day to give up.
Isaiah 40:31 tells us: “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint,” (ESV).
Regardless of who you are or what condition your life is in, you can’t function successfully without hope in God. If circumstances are bad, you surely need hope. And if they are good, you need hope that they will stay that way!
Hope energizes and motivates us to take action by causing us to step out in faith and act in obedience with God’s Word. Hope believes boldly, decides daringly, speaks firmly and perseveres passionately. When we embrace hope on purpose, it influences our thoughts, our attitudes, our outlook and the way we speak. Hope builds us up as we wait on God.
Hope releases joy, and the joy of the Lord becomes our source of strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Never assume that where you’ve been or where you are is as good as it gets. And when your goal or your situation seems impossible, keep in mind that nothing is impossible for God.
In Matthew 19:26, Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible,” (NIV). It doesn’t matter what the situation looks like around you; God is greater than any obstacle you may be facing. Everything that has never been done is impossible until someone does it, so why can’t it be you?
Don’t allow your mind to become a hindrance to the things you can accomplish in life. Think big—the way God does! Choose to believe God is going to do something better in your life. So, go ahead and get your hopes up! God is leading you to something better than you can imagine!
Joyce Meyer is a New York Times’ bestselling author and founder of Joyce Meyer Ministries Inc. She has authored 130 books, including Battlefield of the Mind and her newest devotional, Quiet Times With God (FaithWords). She hosts the Enjoying Everyday Life radio and TV programs, which air on hundreds of stations worldwide. For more information, visit joycemeyer.org.
