This week at Campfire Church we were talking about hope.
Have you ever hoped for something?
Have you known what it feels like to have hope disappointed?
Life is disappointing.
We place our hopes in other people. In pleasure from experience. In the pursuit of possessions. And they all let us down.
Even lottery winners have experienced the consequences of putting their hope in newfound wealth. Hope misplaced like this has resulted in betrayal, addiction, and suicide (source).
Danelle shared this week that she also felt the most hopeless when things were going well in her life. Even though she was taking good steps forward in her career, she still felt devoid of life-giving hope.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick.”
“The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.”
There is hope!
Danelle shared that as she started to pursue a personal relationship with God, things started to change. Her circumstances didn’t change, but the fog started to lift. In retrospect, she recognized that she was learning that hope placed in anything other than Christ can result in disappointment. And hope placed in Christ meant greater contentment, better sleep, and a generally more hopeful disposition.
Danelle wrote the following as she reflected on the discussion time, “people shared a bunch of verses and I got excited and scattered. I think I talked a little about God's restorative plan as what feeds hope. I know that because God's plan is restoration to what things should be, He's doing things in that direction even if it doesn't feel like it's happening now.”
Psalm 37 below expounds on the benefits of putting our hope in God:
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!”
Life is disappointing, but life in Christ is hopeful! And hope makes a life of joy and flourishing possible, whether circumstances are ideal or much less than perfect.
Chime in below with your favorite verse about “hope.”