Keep Hope Alive

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. (Romans 5:5)

There has been an attack against God's people for a long time, and it does not always take the form of a crisis. Sometimes it comes as a slow, quiet erosion. It’s the kind that wears away at what you believe until one day you realize that somewhere along the way you stopped expecting anything good to happen in your life. That is the enemy attacking your hope. And if you want to live a stable, anchored life in God, one of the most important things you can do is understand what hope actually is and how to keep it alive.

Paul wrote in Romans 5:5 that hope makes you not ashamed. The Greek word there is kataischuno, and it means more than just embarrassment. It means hope will not disgrace you. It will not dishonor you. It will not leave you confused and scattered when life starts pressing in. That is the kind of hope Paul described here. It is not wishful thinking or a vague sense that things might get better, but rather it is a settled, confident expectation that what God said will come to pass. That kind of hope does not crack under pressure.

Hope holds because of what produces it. Paul was not talking about hope you work up through positive thinking or willpower. He was talking about hope born of the love of God, shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost. That phrase shed abroad means poured out lavishly, overflowing, spread everywhere. When you allow the Holy Spirit to operate in your life the way He wants to, the love of God flows from within you and becomes a hope the enemy cannot touch.

Jesse Jackson used to say, “Keep hope alive.” And although I don’t agree with him on every point, he was right about that. Hope isn't sentiment; it's structure. When it goes, the mind goes foggy, the emotions go unstable, and the enemy finds the crack. But when hope is burning in you, something steadies in your spirit that circumstances can't reach.

Practical Application

Take some time to check on your hope - not your mood, or your emotions. Where is your hope? Ask the Holy Spirit to bring you fresh hope, fresh wind, and a greater expectation.

Ephesians 1:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:16