A Living Hope

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3

My friend and I were walking on a warm summer evening, catching up on our lives. She asked me if I have a “living hope” in my heart. My first response was “seriously”? But she pressed me further. “Kathy, I’m serious, I know, as believers, we have the great hope of eternal life with Christ, but what about our daily ‘living hope,’ do you struggle with that, like I do?”

What is “living hope” and what does it feel like in our hearts and look like in our lives? John Eldredge defines hope as “the eager expectation that God is bringing good things into our lives.”

My friend and I shared how we often face an internal battle in our thoughts – somewhere between hope and hopelessness. Our internal dialogue can sound like “Why don’t you just quit…. Quit hoping that God’s goodness is coming, quit serving God – it’s not making a difference anyway!”

There’s always an internal battle! The enemy of our soul is baiting us to quit, when in fact, we are actually making progress, moving in the right direction, and on the right path to experience the goodness God brings.

The battle in our minds is not necessarily an all or nothing equation where we either have zero hope or an abundance of hope. It can sometimes be a sliver of hope that can keep us going. Knowing God is good, even when we’ve been waiting a long time for things to change. Yet sometimes we still wonder if God is really going to come through for us.

Hope in God is intended to be an unbreakable spiritual lifeline to Him and His good intentions towards us. A daily choice of believing God and His goodness above everything else.

Do you struggle to have a daily “living hope?” Are you willing to embrace hope and trust God even when life isn’t going your way?