What does Hope mean?
How can we be hopeful?
These are two of the questions that seem to pop into my head whenever I hear the word “Hope” and think about what it means to be hopeful.
So what does hope mean? Here are a few definitions;
“a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen.”
“a feeling of trust”
When we have hope, it seems like different situations come to test us in order to make sure we really believe what we say we do. In these times it’s really hard to have hope, especially when difficult scenarios happen one after the other and it seems like there isn’t a way out. I feel it’s important to remember that God is not going to give you more than you can handle and even though circumstances arise, drawing closer to him will enable you to keep your mindset focused on him and allow you to have a positive attitude. When you have hope and truly believe in God, you will be able to continue through the hard times.
In today’s society, people put their hope in things that aren’t sustainable and then have to deal with the consequences of that decision. In this generation we are always looking for the next best thing and putting our trust in people and material things which either let us down or do things that we didn’t expect them to do. Which then questions whether we made the right decision. We need to remember that the only person we need to have hope in and put our trust in is God, he has already given us everything we need which means we don’t need to put our hope and trust in material things and people because God who loves us dearly has blessed us with everything we could ever hope for and have.
Having the attitude of being hopeful in a hopeless situation is hard. However with the right mindset of seeking God you will have the determination to keep powering through no matter what the outcome is. This is something that a lot of us struggle to do on a daily basis especially if it’s out of your control and there are limitations to what you can actually do. However when you offer everything to God and allow him to intercede into the situation you can then start to think about things in a positive way.
When I think about having hope in different circumstances it is often helpful to reflect upon the verse below:-
“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak then I am strong.”
Whenever I read this, I have reassurance that actually through the tough times God is still doing incredibly work and even if I can’t see it at the time, I have hope and put my trust in him to know that he has got me right where he wants me and he is with me always.
So I challenge you:- when you feel like a situation is hopeless, take a moment to pray and chat to God about what he might be doing in and through you in this circumstance. Put your hope and trust in him and see all that he does.
Becks Louis – Street Dance Coach and Mentor