I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Psalm 16:8

My hope is in you, God
I am steadfast, I will not be moved
I’m anchored,
never shaken.
All my hope is in you.

William Matthews

Hope. We sing the song “Hope’s Anthem” by William Matthews often at church. We are fast approaching the Christmas season where the word ‘hope’ is tossed around quite a bit. And yet, we also find that depression is more common during this season than others. So even though we talk about hope, some people don’t have much, if any.

Due to pandemic issues, I will admit that this year as we head into Christmas, I am not overly hopeful. I looked up the word in a Bible dictionary and found that it means a confident expectation—to trust in, wait for, look for, or desire something or someone; or to expect something beneficial in the future. Hmmm….  So now I know what hope is.

I continued digging and found this on LifeHack.org: “Doctors know that hope affects our ability to heal. Hopeful patients have higher levels of dopamine, endorphins and other neurochemicals, which promote wellbeing and the energy for living.”  So now I know why hope is so important.

This same article said that one way to build hope was to develop hopeful relationships; she was referring to people. Build relationships with hopeful people. Perhaps that’s the problem. Most of the people I encounter daily are not overly hopeful. I’m going to have to go out of my way to find these hopeful people. So now I know one way to build hope.

One thing they all agreed upon was that hope was not wishful, pie in the sky thinking. I read this on Bible.org “… a biblical hope is not an escape from reality or from problems. It doesn’t leave us idle, drifting or just rocking on the front porch. If our hope is biblical and based on God’s promises, it will put us in gear.”

So now I know that hopes needs to be built on something more reliable than my wishes. Hope needs to be based on God’s promises. Hope based on His promises will move me out of a complacent funk to a purposeful state of mind. When my hope is in Him, I am steadfast, as the song says. No matter what comes my way, I will not be shaken or moved. So now I have an action plan—hang out with hopeful people and keep God’s promises before me. Hopefully, I can do this.

Precious Jesus, my hope can only be built on You and Your character. All else is shifting sand like the song says. I have stood on the beach and felt my feet sink into the sand as the tide rose and fell and I know I don’t want to be washed away by everything or just anything that flows my way. I want my hope to be built on the more solid ground of Your Word. I will keep my eyes on You and trust You to place hopeful people in my path and cause me to be a hopeful person to them. I ask in Your wonderful name. Amen.

I would love to hear from you. Please let me know if I can be praying for you as well.

pic credit: chinohillshowler.org