How can you still live with hope when times are tough? This plan will inspire you to live a hopeful life. Hope isn’t found in the reality that things are good but in the truth that we have a good God. It’s easy to base our lives on how things seem in the moment. However, hope isn’t anchored in what is falling apart but in the One who never fails and never falls. Living with hope means living with anticipation to experience God’s goodness. Hope helps you stay aware of God’s presence in your life, even in difficult times.
Flood Church – Lilongwe
Day 1
Scriptures: Lamentations 3:22-24, Romans 8:38-39, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
We often form judgments about our future based on past experiences and present circumstances. If our situation isn’t good, we tend to project that onto the future. However, you and I are called not to live our lives according to our experiences but according to God’s promises. It is God’s promises that propel our hope.
According to this passage, living a life of hope in the face of despair means remembering the following:
1. God covers you with His love in the face of danger.
Jeremiah says, “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed.” Sometimes, God’s love appears to us by shielding us from danger, but sometimes, God’s love is displayed by preserving us in the middle of danger. You can live a hopeful life today, knowing that God is capable of shielding you from danger and, at the same time, He is capable of preserving your life in the middle of danger.
2. Your situation might be unfair but hold on to God’s faithfulness for you.
The writer says, “great is your faithfulness.” Living a life of hope does not mean dismissing the hard things in your life. While facing the unfairness of your situation, you still need to remember God’s faithfulness around you. When we say, “God is faithful,” we mean that God has committed to sticking with you despite your situation. Do not let the hardship of the situation sway you from the truth that God is faithful.
3. God’s mercy never stops, even when everything else seems to stop.
The Prophet says, “For his compassions never fail. They are new every morning.” This means God’s mercy never stops; we are the ones who stop noticing it. We are the ones who stop looking for it, but His mercies never stop—they are new every morning. God’s mercy never stops showing up, and God will keep on showing His mercy.
4. Remember that you have who you need the most.
Jeremiah says, “The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for him.” The Lord being your portion means He is all you’ve got because He’s got you fully. The writer here says that because the Lord is my portion, I will therefore wait for Him. One of the best ways to gauge whether you are making God your portion is in your willingness to wait for Him. You need to be willing to wait for God to do His work in you, for you, and with you.
Often, we fail to wait for God because we are so obsessed with control. We want a God whom we can control—when and how He gives us what we need. But to wait on God is to relinquish, surrender, or let go of your need to have God do things your way. The reality is that we don’t need a God we can control; we need a God we can trust.
PRAYER:
God, often I see your presence in my life based on the good things I see around me. Help me to live a hopeful life that knows that God is fully present with me no matter the situation. I ask that you give me the grace to know that I am safer with God than in anything else I could have. In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!
Day 2
Scriptures: Isaiah 41:10, Hebrews 13:5, Joshua 1:9
God never says, “Don’t be afraid,” to people who are not afraid. God says, “Don’t be afraid,” to people who are afraid. You might be feeling afraid right now—overwhelmed by what you’re going through or uncertain about what lies ahead. But God sees your fear. He knows your struggles, and His message to you is clear: “Don’t be afraid.”
But He doesn’t just tell you not to be afraid—He gives you a reason. He says, “Don’t be afraid. Why? Because I am with you.” God’s solution to our fears is not simply to make us stop being afraid, nor is it to make us look stronger or remove the situations we fear.
God’s solution to our fears is in the provision of Himself. God gives Himself to us as an antidote to our fears. Our problem isn’t that God is absent when we are afraid; our problem is that we are not aware of His presence when we are afraid.
We are more attuned to seeing the fears in front of us than to recognize the presence of God within us. The more aware you are of God’s presence in your life, the smaller your fears appear. Without God, your fears seem big; with God, your fears seem small.
Our fears reveal our lack of trust in what God can do for us, with us, and in us. God says, “Do not be dismayed.” This means: do not be distressed or shaken, for I am your God. You will not be shaken when you remember to whom you belong. You are not unshaken because nothing can shake you—you are unshaken because the One with you is never shaken.
We are also encouraged never to be afraid because God will give us the strength we need. When God says, “I will strengthen you,” it is an invitation to a place where He provides that strength. Sometimes we say that God gives us strength, but we are unwilling to go to the place where we can receive it.
I have found that God’s strength is often given as needed. God is full of strength, but He gives it to us as we need it. Trusting God is about reaching a place where you know that the only strength you need comes from God and nowhere else.
PRAYER:
God help me to see you not only for what you can do for me but for who you are to me. Help me to surrender my fears so I can fully depend on you and your promises. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen!
Day 3
Scriptures: Jeremiah 29:11, Proverbs 3:5-6, Proverbs 16:9
You could be in a season of broken dreams. When your dreams are shattered, you need to anchor yourself to something you can never lose. Or, to be more precise, you need to anchor yourself to someone who will never lose you. Jesus must become your anchor when your dreams are shattered to pieces. When you don’t get what you want, it’s time to run toward God, not away from Him. Your hope is found in Him and Him alone and in nothing else.
When your dreams are shattered, you can live with hope when you remember these possibilities:
1. Sometimes, an unfulfilled dream is God’s redirection for your life.
There are times when God doesn’t give us what we want because He is guiding us toward a redirection. He’s pointing us toward something better than we could ever imagine at the moment.
What if your broken dream was God’s way of pointing you toward something glorious that you needed, but didn’t realize you needed at first? It might not be broken; it might just be a redirection. Embrace the journey and see where God takes you. He has better plans for you, and it will be good wherever He leads.
2. Sometimes, an unfulfilled dream is God’s way of rebuilding authentic trust in you.
Remember, God doesn’t exist just to give us what we want. We exist to worship Him—not for what He gives us, but for who He is. Sometimes, God allows our dreams to be broken to prevent us from putting our trust in our plans and to remind us to trust in the God who makes dreams come true.
There are moments when your dreams may be shattered to develop a deeper trust in you. This process brings you to a place where your faith in God is not dependent on what He gives you, but on the reality that He loves you—and you love Him.
3. Sometimes, an unfulfilled dream is God’s invitation to rediscover a new dream.
There are times when God wants us to move toward something new. Personally, it often takes me a while to realize that I’ve overstayed my welcome, and I sometimes need a door to close so that I can notice the new one beside it. I’ve had moments where I cried over something not working out, but eventually, I became thankful that it didn’t, because it led me to something new and better.
4. Sometimes, an unfulfilled dream is God’s invitation for a refreshing start.
There are times when starting over may be the best option rather than staying stuck in a situation. While a fresh start can be difficult, it’s often better than remaining in a state of stagnation. As the saying goes, ‘For every death, there’s a resurrection.’ A new beginning can bring renewed passion, fresh joy, and new grace. There may be moments when you feel frustrated or disheartened by the challenges you’ve faced, but eventually, you realize that you wouldn’t have come to know God in the way you do now if you hadn’t gone through those experiences. Resurrection happens, but for it to take place, we must first let go of the dreams we’ve held onto.
PRAYER:
God, there are moments when I don’t pay attention to what you are doing and only pay attention to what I can see. Help me to trust in the plan you have for me and help me live today knowing that your thoughts are to prosper me, not to harm me. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen