“At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. 8 Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, 9 yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant. – Job 14:7-9 (NIV)
At some time in our lives, we all experience it. Whether it comes after disappointment, loss or circumstances that are beyond our control, we all lose hope.
Hope dies when we give up or decide that it will never happen to us. Time and time again we have hoped for something that never eventuates. We get bruised and beaten by our hopes being crushed. The things we hope never come about and instead of going through the hurt and disappointment again, we decide that there is no hope for us.
We know that hope exists – we see it in other people. We see their hopes realised, their dreams come true and yet it never seems to happen to us. When our hopes are continually trampled upon, we give up and start to settle for whatever our lot in life is. The thought arises that hope is okay for some people but not for me.
No matter how much we deny or kill off hope there is always a little bit of it inside of us that refuses to go away. Just like a tree when it is cut down and new shoots spring forth with the scent of water, the same applies to the hope within us. There will always be just that small piece of hope lingering and waiting to bloom when the circumstances are just right.
You may be wondering how do I know if I have really lost all hope. For most people when hope dies all they see is a hopeless end. However, if you have Jesus in your life, you have an endless hope within in you. Jesus is what makes that little bit of hope linger on when all hope is gone. He gives you a reason to rejoice and to be thankful that hope endures no matter how much you deny it.
An enduring hope is what makes Christians different from other people. It doesn’t matter how often our hopes and dreams are crushed, we have a hope in God that will help us to keep going and going. Even if you continue to think that there is no hope for you in certain situations, there will always be that little part of you that will always hope. It’s a hope that comes from the love that God has for us.
God doesn’t want us to be hopeless creatures. He wants to live in hope and always look upwards so that we can go onwards. He makes sure that hope never dies. For if hope dies then everything else in our lives may die as well.
A little bit of hope is something we all need to grow and flourish no matter what circumstances, disappointment or loss may bring us. A little bit of hope is what we need from God.
First published at Inspirational Christian Blogs – September 2016