Hope Springs Eternal

When the weather outside is frightful and the thought of spring is the only thing that seems delightful, what visions emerge in your mind’s eye? Is it pink ribbons wrapped neatly around curls, cotton-candy colored dresses, and glossy cocoa-buttered legs with ruffled ankle laced socks stuffed into shiny patent leather MaryJanes ready for Easter Morning, or an early morning jam session of a robin in a budding tree that dances through you minds. Maybe it’s a sliver of grass that has found its way through the crevice of a city sidewalk, or the yellow blanket of pollen that saturates everything.

Well spring is here! Images that were once far away dreams are now reality. I don’t know about you, but things can get a little depressing after the winter holidays. Gone are those lazy day blues. Energy that was once lost in the doldrums of winter has emerged, giving me that extra spring in my step. Flowers are blooming, allergies are in full swing--thanks, pollen--, days are longer, and the weather is perfectly delightful; especially for displaying freshly pedicured toes in 3" heel gladiator-inspired sandals with buckle closure at the ankle by Nine West -- hint, Mother’s Day is coming up soon--.

I’m one of those people that simply can’t wait for spring to arrive. For one, it marks the countdown until the end of the school year. When you’re in the middle of a lesson and your favorite boy wonder raises his hand--turning what you thought is an “aha” moment to an “I know you didn’t” one-- asking in front of the entire class “Have you ever had a cocktail?”... let the countdown begin.

Spring has always been that time of year, I find refreshingly optimistic. It’s filled with hope, reminding me that all things are possible through the resurrecting power of Jesus Christ. In these trying times when it seems like the world around us is crumbling, when life is murky and mysterious, we need hope. A hope that Rev. Milton Brunson sang about more than 20 years ago (which is still apropos for today, take a listen). A hope that is more than just wishful thinking. One that is not placed in man, a hope that the Bible speaks of: a confidence and assurance concerning the future based on God's promises. Hope is a crucial ingredient of the life of the righteous. As Christians we should never be without hope. But let’s keep it real. Sometimes, there are circumstances that come into our lives that leave us filled with anxiety, doubt, and depression. Circumstances that the enemy tries to knock us off the very foundation we stand. The mistake many of us make is to deny these feelings or see it as some sort of weakness. It is through these difficult times that His strength is made perfect, 2 Corinthians 12:9. When life’s moments seem to have gotten the best of you, that’s the time to cling to the eternal hope of Christ. Romans 8:24-25 “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” So, when the doldrums of life get you down, just remember hope springs eternal.

Here are some verses that will remind you to remain hopeful:

Psalms 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Psalms 42:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

Psalms 119:116 Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.

Psalms 119:116 Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.

Psalms 146:5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:

Jeremiah 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

Lamentations 3:24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

Lamentations 3:26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

Romans 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Titus 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.