It’s fleeting. Hard to hold onto, it can be lost or even abandoned. It can vanish in a moment’s time when life turns on a dime. Without it, our world becomes bleak and void. Without it, we feel lost and alone. Empty. Devastated. Forlorn. What is this thing that has such an enormous role in our well-being?

Hope.

Hope is a word that is thrown around carelessly. I hope my team wins the Superbowl. I hope this dinner tastes good. I hope the scale reads the number I want to see. I hope … This kind of hope is fickle. But there are times in life when genuine hope is threatened. Life turns sour. The sinking feeling of hopelessness leaves us lost and empty. The enemy of our souls drags our thoughts through dirty, despairing scenarios. Can you relate?

But God. The God of hope. With God, there is always hope. When life turns rotten, we can hold on to hope, because God is still God. He reigns. He rules. He knows. He loves. We can trust Him. “‘For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and hope.’” Jeremiah 29:11