Hope

The word hope brings a whole host of emotions. Those emotions can be anything from happiness to sadness to trust to waiting to being up all night praying—or something very simple. For example, I can say, “I hope the new recipe I am trying for dinner is good.” That is a simple statement, but it is the expectation of an outcome, and we don’t know what the outcome will be. Now on the tougher end of things, someone may say, “I hope I don’t have this illness the doctor is testing me for” or, “I hope my loved one is going to recover completely from the accident they had.” Again, it is the outcome we are waiting to hear. For someone in a war-torn country, or for those who don’t know where their next meal is coming from, that word hope can truly mean “life” as in some of these earlier examples.

I feel that when we have hope in our lives, we have encouragement. Hope is God telling us to hang on. It is that light at the end of the tunnel. When we have hope, we feel we can continue moving forward, that we can breathe a sigh of relief—we can carry on. The admonition of Romans 12:12—

“rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer” (NKJV)—has been an unwavering encouragement for me. Just this year, I have said so many times, “I hope and pray,” because my wonderful husband has experienced a serious flare-up of his autoimmune disease. It’s been tough at times. Whether you are a patient or a caregiver, a chronic illness is difficult and sometimes can leave a person mentally and physically parched. Through it all, though, both my amazing, brave husband and I still see our blessings. We have so much provided for us through great medical care and the loving support of family, friends, and our church. So when we are feeling particularly depleted, we remember “faith is the substance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1, NKJV) and that God will give us the strength we need (Isaiah 40:31). We take one day at a time and know He is with us. He renews our faith each day and gives us hope while carrying us on wings like eagles.

Trust Jesus to be your hope too. He not only gives us hope, He is our hope. Put another way, no matter what our trials, He Offers People Eternity (HOPE).

Jean Dozier Davey