[Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Keep your hope alive

READ: ROMANS 5:1-5

MEDITATION VERSE

“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5).

Hope is a feeling of expectation and a desire for a particular thing to happen. Biblically, it is the confident expectation of what God has promised which is based on the faithfulness of God. Hope is also a Psychological construct. In Psychology, hope is defined as the ability to plan pathways to desired goals, despite obstacles and the agency or motivation to use these pathways. Hope is viewed because of these two components. Hope in this term is active in nature, referring to the motivation to use the ability to plan. Hope produces a strength of itself.

When Cornell University in America conducted a study on the effects of hope, Dr Wolff reported that people with hope can endure incredible burdens and hardships. One group studied comprised 25,000 soldiers imprisoned during World War II. Subjected to forced labor, bad food and filth, many died. A handful showed only slight damage. Interviews with the survivors revealed a far above average ability to hope. When asked how they kept their hope alive, they said they were drawing pictures of the girls they planned to marry, designing their future homes, and organizing business management seminars. Hope keeps you going amid debilitating circumstances.

Does navigating your current situation look impossible? Are you about to throw in the towel or give up? Do you feel there will never be a change in your circumstances? Do not give up. Keep your hope alive. Romans 5:1-5 says,

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

You have this hope as an anchor of the soul, which is both sure and steadfast, (Hebrews 6:19). So, keep it alive and press on.

IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Pst (Mrs) Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

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