Hope

I’ve ditched new year’s resolutions for bucket lists & one word for the year.

‘For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.’ (TS Eliot)

Last year my word was be.The year before I chose run. This year my word is hope.

Hope: A feeling of expectation & trust

‘Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.’
(Emily Dickinson)

Hope is what’s needed in our daily lives & broken planet. The truth of the Christmas Carol reminds us:
‘A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices’

But hope is more than a feeling. Hope is a Person. His Name is Jesus. He came from heaven to the manger & grew in the carpenter’s workshop. He lived & died in this world. He rose again & left His Spirit in us if we believe:
‘Christ in you, the hope of glory.’
(Colossians 1:27 NIV)

God has given us everlasting hope:
‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’
(1 Peter 1:3 ESV)

‘But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.’
(Psalms 71:14 ESV)

‘Hope is not the belief that things will turn out well, but the belief God is working through all things, no matter how things turn out.’ (Ann Voskamp)

Even when we feel down, we can know hope:
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation, & my God”
(Psalms 42:5 ESV)

‘For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.’
(Psalms 62:5 ESV)

‘In the storms of life, we can ‘hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul’
(Hebrews 6:18-19 ESV)

Hope can keep us steady & ground us! It’s an anchor for our anxious souls in the faithfulness of God.

‘Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.’
(Hebrews 10:23 ESV)

We can choose to be hopeful when things seem hopeless. It’s a choice of prospective.

‘Chose hope– it will anchor you’
(Jennifer Rothschild)

When this world makes us weary & grinds us down, we can be renewed by hope. We can rise above our troubles:
‘But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.’
(Isaiah‬ ‭40:31‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

‘Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness’ (Bishop Tutu)

‘The promise of hope is that our now is not forever’
(Christy Wimber)

So, ‘Let hope keep you joyful’
(Rom 12:12)

We need to share our hope with those who can see the difference it makes:
‘always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you’
(1Peter 3:15 ESV)

We can sow seeds of hope.

Then…

Wait. Expect. Trust

In our God

‘Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.’
(2Thessalonians 2:16-17 ESV)

‘And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.’
(Psalms 39:7 ESV)

In our God, we find hope…
for today,
& for tomorrow,
& always.

Blessings,

Ruth x