The level of joy and peace that you experience in life is directly tied to what you believe life is holding for you in the future. As you gaze into the the future, what do you see? Is it a future filled with doom and gloom, or is it a future full of promise and possibilities? Your view of the future is shaped by an underestimated virtue called "hope." How crucial is hope? Without hope we can sabotage and poison the future.
What is the internal drive that compels us to move forward and meet the basic challenges of life? Somehow, God has given us a measure of hope, and hope gives us the courage to move forward believing in the possibility of a positive result. The feeling of futility is not a compelling reason to roll out of bed and it certainly does not "charge" our batteries to embrace life. Hope can make the difference. Hope is more than an overly optimistic view of life, because our hope is based in our relationship with Christ.
In the midst of imprisonment (a situation that would have the potential to shake a person's hope) the Apostle Paul wrote the following words: "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day." 2 Tim 1:12 (NKJV) I don't know why Paul's optimistic view of life is so surprising, after all, this is the man that was arrested, beaten, thrown into a jail cell and chained...and started to sing songs of praise with his partner in crime. (Who would do that under the circumstances?) Only a person full of hope.
Prayer: (Let's pray the Word today) "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And may you be filled with a supernatural courage knowing that God is with you--that God goes before you--that God is for you--that God will never leave nor forsake you--and that God loves you more than you love yourself. Amen"
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