Hope is a Choice

Today as you get up, start another day, start another week, you’re going to face the familiar choice between hope and despair. Despair by far is the easiest choice. This world is going to hell, this nation is running away from God, your job drains you, your family is falling apart, your marriage is dead. Turn on any talk radio or 24-hour news station and you can be easily bombarded and overwhelmed by negativity and despair.

Christians especially are faced with this choice given the recent Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states. The illusion of America as a Christian nation is forever broken. The easy choice is to let despair run free, to close ranks and condemn the nation.

Yesterday I was reminded again that by far the harder choice is hope. Hope forces you to believe in a bigger, loving God in the midst of a world that seems to be falling apart. Hope can seem a fool’s errand when you live in a home environment that is toxic. Hope can seem nothing more than a daydream when you’re stuck in a job that is sucking the life out of you.

Today I simply want to remind you that hope is a choice. Hope isn’t determined by circumstances, marriage statuses or Supreme Court rulings. Hope is a conscious choice each of us makes to believe in a God that is bigger and better than whatever you may be going through. Hope is a daily reminder that that God is still on his throne, Jesus still died for you, the tomb is still empty, and heaven still awaits us.

Don’t let despair destroy the joy that Christ created you for. Don’t let negativity, condemnation and bitterness stop up the overflowing spring of life within all believers. Choose joy. Choose life. Choose hope.