Here's Hope

When I think of the word hope my heart and mind are filled with two opinions: we need it and there's not much of it. Hope. I think you would agree that we need it considering all the stuff that is going around us. Shootings, drug addiction, alcohol problems, sex trafficking and slavery, and the overall moral decline of our culture are all evidences that we need some hope. All of these issues and the thousands more that could be listed are all evidences that people are hurting, people are struggling, people are willing to do some pretty shady and dangerous stuff, all in the name of finding relief, taking a break, escaping for a little while, and screaming for help and hope.

We are tired of feeling hopeless and yet we seem to be on the slippery slope of hoping less and less and less. We've tried almost anything and almost everything, but we are still hopeless. That's is such a sad condition for the human heart, for our families, and for our communities.

And yet the reality is there is hope. It is readily available to anyone and everyone. It doesn't matter where you've been. It doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter where you are from or where you seem to be headed. It doesn't matter if you are male or female. Hope is available. 

Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. Hope is "to cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen or be true; trust."

I believe hope isn't a human idea. I don't think hope came from the heart and mind of any human being. Hope has a source that's out of this world. Romans 15:13 says, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Well, there ya go. Here's hope.