Bible Passage: “Hope delayed makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12 CSB)
Scripture Reading: Romans 15:10-13
Each year, millions of sports fans begin a new season with hope of what their team will accomplish.
As the year unfolds, the vast majority of us end up with that same hope fading and disappearing. Depending on how invested you are in your favourite sports team, your mood can rise and fall with the hope you are feeling.
This is not a new phenomenon. Proverbs 13:12 shares wisdom that diminished hope can lead to emotional frustration, sadness, or exhaustion. It also teaches us that when our desires are fulfilled, it gives us a sense of life.
You have likely experienced this reality in your own life. There is something about having hope that puts you in a good frame of mind, and something about losing hope that can lead to a sense of discouragement and despair.
The Global Brain Health Institute says this: “We know that hope works for the brain and in the brain. Experiencing hope dampens the anxiety circuits in the brain, and when you feel less anxious, your brain function improves.”
Hope is a human need.
The challenge we all face is that everything we put our hope in always seems to come up short. Even if your favourite team wins the championship, there’s still next year, and the battle of hope begins all over again.
Approximately two thousand years ago, a baby named Jesus was born in a small village called Bethlehem. The Bible says this child is where you can find a hope that overflows. In a world that desperately needs hope, finding a hope that overflows almost seems too good to be true.
This week, we are going to discover how Jesus is the way to experience a hope that moves beyond the highs and lows of a man’s life (or his favourite team).
Prayer: Lord, as I go through this week of devotionals, I ask that You would renew my hope so that it overflows. Amen.
Reflection: How has hope or hopelessness impacted your life? Where is your level of hope today? Why?
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