And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

-Romans 5:5, NLT

Hope is precious.

We need hope to live. It is just as important to our living as food and water.

The case for this lesson is made by the author Viktor Frankl in his famous work, Man’s Search for Meaning. Frankl survived Auschwitz, and he describes how he observed people dying upon the loss of hope. Their physical circumstances did not change. The only thing that changed was their loss of hope. That was deadly.

Frankl loves quoting the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche in his book:

“He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.”

I have my own interpretation of this quote:

“One can endure almost any how if one has hope.“

This is the power of the Christian faith. We have a hope that will not let us down. No matter the awful how of our circumstances, we can be sure of the final eternal outcome. Furthermore, we are strengthened in this hope by the love expressed to us via Holy Spirit. This is what we see in Romans 5:5. As we tap into that love, we are strengthened in our hope.

 

When I feel loved by God, I have a strengthened ability to trust Him for my future. I can dare believe He has good coming for me. This is hope.

Are you struggling with hope today?

I recommend dwelling upon God’s love for you. Develop a practice of gratitude towards God. This strengthens our connection with Him. It helps us open our eyes to the great love He continuously expresses to us.

As we believe in God’s love for us, we will find both our faith and hope strengthened. This will in turn help us endure whatever difficult how we experience in the present age of tribulation.

 

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*A version of this post ran previously. When I write of hope, I am NOT talking about putting hope in our cheater. That is unhealthy. Our hope–if it is to be a good hope–needs to be grounded in Christ and his unshakable love for us!