Soul Songs
Title: Hope
by Diann Messer
Hope
Hope. The very word causes a joyful expectation to spring
up inside my soul. I happen to be one of those people whose basic personality
type is a hopeful one. According to the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator,
there are four basic personality types: The Practical, The Helpful, The
Hopeful, and the Visionary. I fall into the ‘The Hopeful’ category. Hopeful
personality types are intuitive as opposed to sensory types. We just know
within our own souls that things are going to work out. We have hope.
I’ve run across a number of people who don’t seem to have much hope. Some
have simply lost hope due to the hardships of living in a fallen world.
Too many trials and too many disappointments have caused them to lose hope.
So what is it that kills hope? What causes a person to lose hope? The killer
of hope is powerlessness. When situations come along in life that show
us how little control we actually have in the affairs of life, we tend to
say ‘it’s hopeless, I can do nothing to change this situation.’ Proverbs
13:12 says ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled
is a tree of life.’ When we lose our hope, we begin to live a dull, boring,
monotonous existence. We dig ourselves a rut and climb in, planning to
stay there until it’s all over. Have you ever felt the need to kick out
both ends of that rut? That desire to kick is your hope, trying to rise
up and propel you out of the despair and lethargy of hopelessness.
Our past life experiences certainly play a role in our ability to have hope
for the future. On the surface, it would seem that if we live largely a
trouble-free existence where everything in life comes up roses, we would
find it easy to have a bright hope for the future. However, I think the
opposite is true. I think when we have a life that is filled with trials,
sorrows, and tragedies and sufferings; it is just as easy to live in hope
of a bright future. When we have lived through hardships and found that
we are still surviving, the trouble that came upon us did not kill us; we
can and should have hope. We find in life that we are able to endure much
more than we thought we could. We don’t know what we can endure until we
have endured it. Then, in the looking back, we smile and say, ‘I don’t
know how I ever made it through that, but I did.’ By the grace of God,
we keep on surviving, keep on enduring; keep on hoping and finding joy in
living. Hope causes us to look forward. It gives us the ability to face
the future with optimism and wide-eyed eager anticipation. Hope causes
us to press forward, looking into the future with a willingness to risk
what we hold onto today for what we could have tomorrow. Hope fastens the
successes of our past to the anticipation of our future.
We have no idea
what the days ahead hold for each one of us. Do you face life with fear
and dread, or do you have an expectant hope for bright tomorrows? I think
it is safe to say that not every day will be bright and joyful. Some days
may be difficult and painful. We may temporarily lose our hope. If that
happens, try to bring to mind all those times from your past when God was
very present and delivered you from similar circumstances.
The past is
a mirror that reflects the face of God. He was there all along and He is
still present now. He will also be present throughout all those days ahead.
Dare to hope, for the roots of our hopefulness tap into the undercurrent
of a river of joy. Make the decision to live in hope.
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Visit Diann's other Ministry Page called "Soul Song For Survivors"
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