How to Live With Unshakeable Hope

Hope-building habit #1: Choose trust

Trust in God often isn’t a feeling, it’s a choice. Anyone can get there … but it requires taking two big steps of faith. First, it requires accepting that God is fully good, compassionate, and loving. And then it requires handing over the reins of our life to His good care. Hope entirely hinges on choosing to trust in Him.

I know readers of this blog are in different places spiritually. But intellectually, I would suggest that without trust in a sovereign God who loves you and is in charge of your life, it’s impossible to have Capital-H Hope. Likewise, if you do have total trust in God, it’s impossible not to have that Hope.

A story I recounted in Find Hope about my friend Sofia brought this to light for me in a profound way. A mystery junkie as a kid, Sofia ended up in adulthood with an unsolved mystery of her own: a medical condition that multiple medical doctors could not diagnose. Finally, she came to this conclusion:

“I had to accept that this was just a mystery that God did not have to solve for me. He owed me nothing. Instead, He invited me into the mystery of His sovereignty. He beckoned me to trust Him more with what He didn’t reveal, as opposed to what He could reveal … I learned to trust His heart when I couldn’t trace His hand.”

I still catch my breath at the depth of her words. God’s heart can be trusted even when we can’t make sense of the plan.

Why? Because He loves us.

His love came here. He is an ever-present help here. He parted the Red Sea, caused Jericho’s walls to fall, and conquered death here. This is what allowed David to say, “I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living” (Psalm27:13 NIV) rather than waiting for an as-yet undefined view of goodness in heaven.

When we choose to trust God’s heart, Hope comes alive.