“In this world you will encounter difficulty . . .” (John 16:33b).
You can’t avoid pain in this life. But hope can keep it from controlling how you live. Hope isn’t a transient wish for better circumstances. Hope is your confident awareness of God’s unending grace and resources to deal with them. Hope isn’t a fantasy reserved for those who haven’t gone through the darkness you have. Hope is your trust in the light of his goodness, growing with every step you take through this valley of shadow.
Hope is your constant companion, speaking life to your spirit when the world is trying to kill your soul. Hope disempowers sorrow, rejection, and failure, turning them into instructors, rather than identities. Hope is sourced in God’s love so deeply, nothing can frustrate who he wants to be in your life, or who you’re becoming in him.
Take a few moments to make hope a shield over your thoughts and feelings again. Thank God for every good thing in your life, until love, joy, peace, and hope are an infinitely stronger reality than every pain, fear, and hardship you’re facing.
“. . . But take heart, because I’ve already overcome the world” (John 16:33c).
Equip Your Spirit 