There are practical steps you can take toward gaining a hopeful spirit. Do you feel a situation is hopeless? Are you overcome with doubts and fears? Have you lost your way on your life’s journey? Move forward into hope by ...
Turning disappointment on its head. Look at this promise from Isaiah 49:23: “Those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” This is a promise you can stand on. When dark moods encroach and disappointment deflates your spirits, take it as a signal to get into God’s Word ... to pray earnestly ... to witness boldly ... and to believe God means what he says. Place your “hopeless” circumstances in his hands, and you won’t be disappointed.
Talking to your soul. Remind your sad soul of things from God’s Word you know to be true. The psalmist did this all the time. He says to himself in Psalm 42:5–6, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Make your soul submit to God’s commands. Have it stand at attention every morning, awaiting God’s directions. Encouraging your own soul is a solid step toward hope.
Keeping your eye on the goal. Take on life’s problems one by one. Do not allow your emotions to rule the day, but faithfully persevere in trusting God. Ultimately, that perseverance will produce a godly character in your life, and establish a concrete hope that can never be shaken. Romans 5:3–5 says, “We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
Joni Eareckson Tada, the founder and chief executive officer of Joni and Friends International Disability Center, is an international advocate for people with disabilities. A diving accident in 1967 left Joni Eareckson, then 17, a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. After two years of rehabilitation, she emerged with new skills and a fresh determination to help others in similar situations. She founded Joni and Friends in 1979 to provide Christ-centered programs to special needs families, as well as training to churches. Through the organization’s Christian Institute on Disability, Joni and her team have helped develop disability ministry courses of study in major Christian universities and seminaries. Visit us at www.joniandfriends.org.
