Day 5: Hope

An area of my own life I've had to fight to have hope in is for physical healing. Medical professionals a long time ago gave me a lifelong diagnosis, but I choose every single day to have hope that God still can and still wants to heal me.

Hope can feel dangerous or like an invitation to pain and disappointment. There have been times when I have experienced a temporary measure of healing, and the pain of disappointment afterward was worse than just living with the illness day to day. In those moments, it's been so tempting to abandon hope for healing because it feels like the 'safer' option for my heart.

But to say there's no hope, is a lie. And our circumstances don't determine God's nature.

Rejecting hope in your life might seem like the safer option, but it will actually cause damage.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."
(Proverbs 13:12)

A pastor named Steve Backlund from Igniting Hope Ministries says, "Any area of your life that doesn't have hope is under the influence of a lie."

What does this mean? To put it simply...because God IS hope, and because He IS in our future, and because everything IS possible with Him, every area of our life should shine with hope. And if it doesn't...it's because the enemy has convinced us to believe a lie. It could sound like...

"It's too late..."
"The diagnosis can't be changed..."
"They'll never change..."
"I'll never be free of this..."
"Things will always be like this..."
"I'll never get married..."
"No one wants me..."

How can we recognise the voice and presence of God in our life? If it isn't hopeful, it isn't God. Hope is in the very nature of God. It's who He is!

"In his name the nations will put their hope." (Mt 12:21)

No relationship is too strained, no illness too severe, no addiction so engrained, that Jesus can't step in and heal. Because we have Him, we have Hope.

"Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)

Be Honest:

On a scale of 1-10, what is the level of hope in your...

• Relationships?
• Family?
• Career?
• Future?
• Relationship with God?
• Finances?
• Healing?
• Freedom?
• Eternal Life with Jesus?

If there are areas you feel particularly hopeless about, you have been believing a lie. The enemy doesn't want you to believe how good God is or how powerful you are.

Bonus Challenge:

1. Go back over the questions above and reimagine hope into every area. See things from God's perspective - what would He say about hope for your future family, or provision for your finances?