Have you ever had a day where everything felt hopeless?  It’s horrible!

How can we make our hope come alive?

Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

We all want hope!  It’s amazing!  It can overcome so much!

In his groundbreaking book, Emotional Intelligence, psychologist Daniel Goleman  presented research comparing the academic achievements of freshmen.  It was found that hope was a far better predictor of academic success than SAT scores (a test highly correlated with IQ and supposedly able to predict how students will perform in college).

Those with strong hope did far better than those with strong SAT scores!

How much more can hope do this for EVERY part of our lives! It overcomes discouragement and setbacks and empowers us to live a flourishing life! So… How can we make our hope come alive?

CS Lewis wrote: “Hope is one of the Theological virtues.  This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not… a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do.”

How can we make hope come alive in ourselves?

Here’s the answer: We CAN’T!

…But God can… Listen to this verse again, noting God’s action…

¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

There’s no HUMAN agency in this verse, only God’s through the Holy Spirit!

WE can’t manufacture hope! So, turn to the God of Hope who fills you with joy and peace, making your hope overflow!

As you go about your day today, ask yourself: “When hopelessness overtakes me, what can I do to turn to the God of Hope?”

When you do, you will be filled with joy and peace, changing from hopeless to hope-filled!