When We’ve Run Out of Hope……

This is my second day in a row to blog about hope. Maybe it has to do with some of the assignments God has given me in the last few months to encourage others to hold onto hope.

So many are sick. Sick and tired. Sick of hearing so much negativity and hate. Sick of trying so hard to make changes in their lives. Sick of being sick. A scripture that answers that SICK-ness is this one: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” (Proverbs 13:12)

When we lose hope, we lose our health, our ability to dream, our determination to keep trying and our desire to face another day. No wonder so many are sick, hopeless and even die from heart illnesses or suicide. It’s truly a matter of the heart. The question, “Is there hope?” is asked every day:

~ When someone is sitting in the doctor’s office awaiting test results.
~ When a couple gets nowhere despite months and months in counseling.
~ When talking to an accountant before walking into a bankruptcy court.
~ When waiting for the results of a passing grade.
~ When waiting for a callback from a job interview.
~ When wondering if we can come together as a nation

Hope is a necessary source of life. Because hope is in such short supply today, people easily fall for all kinds of scams. They trust in false hopes, like get-rich-quick schemes, psychic hotlines, palm readings, and quack cures. Nothing disappoints worse than false hope. So where do we turn to find real hope? In Romans 15:13, the Apostle Paul gives us the answer – the answer is in God: “May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and peace through your faith in Him. Then you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”. Now that’s what I call a HOPE boat riding on a HOPE river – overflowing in hope. God is the only source of hope that will never disappoint. When we place our faith in Him, He provides joy, peace, and hope that overflows. Oh, how our world needs that hope.

The most common lie that satan uses to instill fear into us is to make us feel our desires, dreams and goals are hopeless. If you've felt that way -- welcome to the club! We've all had that uneasy feeling of hopelessness, but the sooner we squelch that lie and trust in God Who is the source of our hope, the sooner we will begin to be filled with joy and peace.....and even start to see positive results to all those hopes and dreams.

God is always with us. He’s in our past, in our present, and in our future. He’s with us in the good and bad places. He is everywhere. And we are never, ever alone. Where God is, hope is. So for a good physical, mental and spiritual report? Bring on the hope!

Hope Brings a Bigger, Bolder, Brighter Future

I hope your yesterday goes well. If I said that to you, you’d be thinking Donna has lost it! It’s silly to hope someone’s YESTERDAY goes well because HOPE doesn’t live in the past. Hope is something based on great expectations for our future.
We can look backward and reminisce the ups and downs, but we can’t HOPE in the past. Even hoping that Uncle Joe included us as a beneficiary is still HOPING in the past.

We can’t change yesterday. We can’t hope in yesterday. But, we can HOPE for today and for tomorrow to be filled with many wins, many victories, many remarkable interceptions of blessings. We can hope our marriages are stronger and we are more in love than ever OR we can even hope for marriage. Period. We can hope for a clean bill of health. We can hope for being able to conceive a baby. We can hope for a new home or car. We can hope our children do well in school.

Hoping is ALWAYS “the great expectation that something good is about to happen” now, in a minute, in this day and tomorrow. It does no good to look backward and HOPE our past gets better. I am excited and hopeful for this 2019 to turn into the greatest year of bringing people into the Kingdom of God. I am excited and hopeful for love to abound in our homes, our cities and our country. I am hopeful that the tide turns for respect for life from conception to the grave. I am hopeful that America WILL be great again in the eyes of its citizens and around the world.

Doesn’t that feel so good? I mean – being hopeful for today and tomorrow. We don’t know what tomorrow holds but we know that God holds tomorrow and He isn’t a bit surprised by His kids showing out. I’m sure He shakes His sovereign head and with amusement often says to His Son Who sits at His right hand and says “What in the world are they thinking?” In all seriousness, He’s got the whole wide world in His hands, so why should we worry or fret. Let’s just keep HOPING and PRAYING for His will being done on earth as it is in heaven!

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Mind Your Posture