“Put your hope in the Lord both now and forever.” - Psalm 131:3
Hope is one of the single most powerful things in life. Hope gives us strength, it draws us closer to God. Yet it is surprisingly easy to lose hope when life becomes difficult. As Desmond Tutu once said, "hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness."
Losing hope and allowing ourselves to become overly discouraged can be a reflection of lacking trust in God. If everything is His plan, if He gives us hope and is the light we turn to in despair, perhaps hope is merely having faith in God. Staying open to positive possibility and learning through our difficult trials and tribulations. Let faith be your inner strength.
We can look to the story of David, who ran from Saul and hid in the desert for 13 years. He avoided death and kept hope alive that God would come to his rescue and he would be made King of Israel. David never lost faith, his connection to God was his inner strength. He would become a great king and leader thanks to the training regime God had put him through.
The Psalms speak to the great despair David endured while hunted by Saul. The experience was incredibly difficult and discouraging, but David always felt safe in the arms of his Heavenly Father. When we allow ourselves to have hope, we become strong like David. We open ourselves to God's gifts. We give Him an opportunity to reveal Himself to us. We grow stronger in our connection to Him.
Life is full of uncertainty. As they say the only constant is "death and taxes". But God is steadfast. God is with us and he is our true constant and compass pointing due North. He doesn't always answer our prayers in the ways we would hope, but He always teaches us something. He always helps us to become better. God is unconditional love, unfailing grace, and our inner strength. Faith gives us hope, and with hope all things are possible.
“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.” – Romans 15:13