But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits. -Psalm 71:14, 15 (NKJV)
I find as a look around me that there is an epidemic of hopelessness in the world. What happens when people no longer have hope? The results can range from sorrow and sadness to personal catastrophe. Hope is that wonderful force that motivates us to keep trying, keep going, and keep moving forward when we might otherwise have given up. The opposite of hope is despair, and despair when left unchecked leads to a loss of purpose and reason to exist in the world. The world is filled with people who have lost all hope, but yet are still walking among us. Their hopelessness is often manifested in addiction, bitterness, anger, and a lack of personal vision. They have ceased to live, but rather are merely surviving life. Such an existence if just that: existing rather than living, and surviving rather than thriving. Christ invites us to stop just surviving and start living the abundant life in Him. He offers to us the power to rise up from hopelessness and into a life characterized by peace, joy, purpose, and yes - hope.
Clare Boothe Luce was quoted as saying:
"There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have
grown hopeless about them."
What we often perceive as a hopeless situation is actually us refusing to see God's presence and power in the midst of it. What will we do when faced with the unthinkable? How will we respond when what we had feared the most comes to pass? How will we react through the crises, trials, tragedies, and storms of life? Shall we behave like those who have no hope? Like the Paul the Apostle we would reply, "God forbid!" We will respond as those who have hope. Our hope is secure, for our hope is founded not upon human will and power, but upon the eternal presence of the Divine and Eternal God - the author of our lives and the finisher of our faith.
In Christ we can resolve to not be like those who have no hope. Like the psalmist, we can say with full confidence, "But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more." And like the psalmist we will ever seek the deeper and uncharted depths of faith in God. What follows will be growing and vibrant faith - faith that does not waver, but instead grows more and more secure as the the storms of life rage around us.
Hope is always good, and hope based upon faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is akin to a granite foundation upon which is built a strong and mighty tower. Rains will come, hurricane force winds will blow, and flood waters may rise, but the tower holds for it is built upon so firm a foundation. Do not lose heart, and by all means never lose hope. The mouth that once uttered words of despair can sing God's praises yet again - continually from day-to-day.
