Brimming with Hope

When we’re experiencing depression or feel like life is too much to handle, it can be difficult to see the bright side of things. However, even when we are at our lowest, God is always cheering us on, and He wants us to believe that things can and will get better.

I love Jeremiah 29:11. It says, For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome (AMPC).

In other words, God is looking for an opportunity to be good to you!

Maybe it’s hard to imagine yourself as a positive, faith-filled person, full of hope. Some people are simply afraid to hope because they have experienced so many negative circumstances and they don’t think they can face any more pain.

But no matter what you’ve been through, God has so much good in store for you! He is “the God of hope,” full of mercy and new beginnings (see Romans 15:13). And with Him, it’s never too late to start believing, anticipating, hoping and expecting that things will get better.

Great Expectations…

One definition of hope is “a favorable and confident expectation.”

I believe many times we take a passive attitude, deciding we’ll just “wait and see” if something will change or “happen” to go well for us. But God wants us to expect on purpose. He desires for us to actively anticipate something good…even when something good isn’t happening to us in the moment…even when everything inside of us wants to give up.

So I ask you: What are you expecting?

What are you seeing in your mind and imagination? How do you talk about your future? When you get up in the morning, do you think, Well, I guess I’ll try to make it through another day. Or do you wake up with anticipation that today might be the day you receive your breakthrough?

It’s appropriate that when a woman’s pregnant, we say that she’s “expecting.” And the further along she is, the more she anticipates what’s coming.

My pregnancies were especially unique because I carried all four of my children approximately a month past their due date. My doctor told me I was the only woman he knew who stayed pregnant as long as an elephant!

Toward the end of each pregnancy, I woke up every day and said, “Today is going to be the day—it has to be the day!” I had all my suitcases packed and ready. I was constantly double-checking everything and making sure things were in order, confident that my baby would come at any moment. Anytime I felt a twinge, I would think, There it is! It’s coming!

This is exactly how God wants you to be with Him! He has an incredible plan for your life, and He wants you to anticipate that good things are right around the corner.

Maybe you’re struggling with intense sadness or a bitter disappointment and can’t imagine anything getting better. The enemy wants to convince you that things will neverchange. But God wants you to know that He loves you, and you can trust Him to make a miracle out of your mess.

Hope says: “Things may have been this way for a long time, but God is the God of the impossible, and things can change.”

You Are Not Defined by Your Past

In Philippians 3:13, the apostle Paul says, …But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead (NIV).

The older I get, the more this verse means to me. The truth is, we all make mistakes. Other people also do things that may be out of our control, and it’s easy to carry those hurts along with us as well. We wish we could go back and change things, but we can’t.

However, in this verse, God instructs us to forget what is behind. Why? Because although we can’t change the past, He can work it all out for our good and provide us with a good future.

Honestly, I’ve had several times in my life where I thought I blew it and completely messed up God’s plan for my life. At times, I’ve also been through so much pain that I didn’t think I could move forward. I know what it’s like to have so many bad things happen in a row that you’re almost afraid to expect anything good to happen. You just don’t want to go through another difficult situation! There were times when I was miserable, and I knew I was probably making others miserable.

Perhaps this is where you are right now. Maybe you are in a really tough spot, and you are simply overwhelmed by life. You may be having thoughts of suicide or wondering if the world would be better off without you. This is what our enemy, Satan, wants you to think. He wants you to believe there is no way out or there’s too much water under the bridge…that things are just too hopeless to recover. But I’m here today to tell you that regardless of how things look and feel at the moment, suicide is not the answer!

I want you to think about this: God made you a one-of-a-kind miracle. You are special! There is no one else on this earth who can fulfill your purpose exactly the way you can. You are loved by God, you are His precious child, and you are His chosen instrument to accomplish great things (see Jeremiah 1:5).

Regardless of the past or the way you feel right now, God has not changed His mind about you. You haven’t ruined or missed out on His best for your life. Remember, when we are fighting depression or thoughts of suicide, it makes us feel isolated—like there’s no way out. But the truth is God still has so many good things ahead! No matter what mess you are in, God’s goodness can pull you out. There is nothing in your life that He can’t restore—your mind, emotions, relationships, or even missed opportunities.

Remember, what we think and say can make all the difference. When thoughts of suicide come…when the enemy tries to convince you that it’s all too much, you’ve messed things up or nobody loves you, that’s when you need to open your mouth and say,

“No! Today is the first day of the rest of my wonderful life that God has planned for me. I’m going to let go of what lies behind, and I’m going to press on to the good things that are ahead!”

Are You a Prisoner of Hope?

Hope means having a positive mindset or attitude. The hopeful person absolutely refuses to be negative in any way. Although they recognize and deal with the storms of life, they remain hopeful in thought, attitude and conversation.

I used to be the most negative person I knew. I was definitely a glass-half-empty type of person—I saw the downside in every situation. That explains why I was so miserable. Doubt and negativity bring us down…but hope releases joy!

So many times, I think we get caught in the trap of waiting until we feel optimistic or hopeful. But hope is a decision to be positive and not live by how we feel. The truth is that when we make a solid decision to think positive, hopeful thoughts, our feelings will eventually catch up.

I absolutely love Zechariah 9:12. The Lord says, Return to the stronghold [of security and prosperity], you prisoners of hope; even today do I declare that I will restore double your former prosperity to you (AMPC).

What does it mean to become a “prisoner of hope”? It means that regardless of what happens in our lives, we refuse to stop hoping and trusting in God’s ability to come through.

When you become a prisoner of hope, the enemy doesn’t know what to do. He may come against you with negative thoughts, but he has no power to harm you when you are determined to continually put all of your trust in God.

Hebrews 6:19 (AMPC) says, [Now] we have this [hope] as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it…]….

I think we all know what an anchor is. When you want a boat to stay in one place, you drop the anchor, and it allows it to only move so far. Well, it says that hope is the “anchor of the soul.” Our soul is our mind, our will and our emotions. Our soul tells us what we think, what we want and what we feel.

So what does all of this mean? It means that when everything looks bleak…when it seems like nothing makes sense and it feels like God’s promises will never come to pass in our lives, hope is our anchor that pulls us back and says, “Hold on! It’s still going to happen!”

When you’re going through a really difficult time or have experienced pain in the past, it can be easy to expect more of the same. But today, God is asking you to place your hope in Him—to expect and believe that He is greater than what you’re going through, and He can even take the bad things that have happened and work them out for your good.

Pray: “Father, I know You have a good plan for my life, and today I choose to place my hope in You. Right now, right in the midst of what I’m dealing with, please help me to expect good things for my future. Help me to see beyond what I’m feeling and place my trust in You, the anchor of my soul. Thank You for being with me every hour of every day. In Jesus’ name, amen.”