Mom Heart Moments #163

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.

“MAMA, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT most distinguishes you is that you are always a hopeful person. No matter what would happen, you always pointed us to hope.” How surprised I was to hear Joy say this, as I have often struggled through the many challenges that threatened to overcome us over the years.

Many years ago, I realized children long to have a happy mother. They are growing up in a time when media spreads the gloom and doom of catastrophes, fears, and threats. When mama spreads light, thankfulness, and hope in the darkness, her children feel secure and safe. But when mama lives darkly, the children harbor fear and insecurity and blame themselves for their parents being angry or sad. Hope is not natural; hope is supernatural. It wells up from deep inside because of a belief that God is good, that He will win in the end, and that there is always hope when God is present.

Women who choose to hope and to trust God are those who, instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle. But it is a choice of the will. Hope is not a feeling; it is a commitment to hold fast to what Scripture reminds us is true about God.

We live in an imperfect world filled with disappointments, devastation, and difficulty. Without hope, our lives can feel purposeless sometimes. In my own life, I have struggled with hardships I never could have seen coming. My heart has been broken, my faith has been tested, and I have had to push myself in ways that I couldn’t have imagined. Difficult circumstances will come our way, and we will always have a choice to make. We can choose to give up, or we can choose hope.

Have you understood hope as not a feeling, but a choice?