Three of the most frightening words to hear from someone are “I feel hopeless.” Hope can be defined as a “feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” Hope is both a noun and a verb. It is a thing we cling to and it is an action we pursue. People without hope are unpredictable.
After the tornado devastation in Moore, Oklahoma, we turn on the news to see people who have hope. People who have lost loved ones have a hope that things are better for them now. They have a hope that one day they will see them again. Hope remains that people will be found in the rubble. People are still clinging to hope and pursuing hope. It allows them to dig deep within themselves and push forward. A person without hope feels lost, abandoned, forgotten, and unimportant.
While it is normal to have moments in time where we feel hopeless, it is important to recognize the danger of that feeling being an underlying theme of every day. People may feel hopeless in their marriage, and teens can feel hopeless that things will get better. We can feel hopeless that things will never change. When you get to that point of hopelessness, tell someone! Do not keep it inside. Reach out. There is hope; there always is.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”