Hope Springs Eternal

You hear that saying often this time of year as baseball season starts as fans of all teams rejoice the beginning of a new year and the promise of a successful team. It is amazing to me how otherwise rational people can talk themselves into rooting for a team they believe has no chance....it just seems to me that people gravitate toward feeling this type of hope.

But do you have hope in more important areas of life? It is pretty easy to root for a team; even if they lose it doesn't truly affect those of us who watch.  We can have hope in small areas but we can live hopeless lives everywhere else.  Maybe you have given up on having hope in your life.  You have been hurt too deeply, or feel like you have fallen far too short of your own expectations.

Why do we think that hope is an auxiliary desire of the human heart?  Hope is essential!  It is what sustains us and motivates us.  Why should you have hope?  Here are three reasons:

1: God has forgiven my past.  The greatest need you ever had was satisfied because Jesus came and willfully gave his life for you.  This means you are treasured by God.  It also means you don't have to live in guilt or shame anymore.  Hope lives where despair used to thrive.

2:  God has a purpose for the present.  You don't have to wander through life anymore.  God has a mission for you, a task that only you can accomplish.  The path you take, the places you set your feet are for you and you alone.  Be hopeful because if you are alive God still has a purpose for you.

3.  God has prepared a home for me in heaven.  The greatest hope of them all is the hope for eternity.  One day we will be reunited with those we have lost and we will finally see Jesus.  Our faith will be fulfilled in that moment, and our hope realized.  Everything in your life should be preparing you for that moment.

Is it possible that you have given up on hope too soon?

Don't give up.  Hope springs eternal!