Life can be difficult—at times brutal. The struggling economy is stealing jobs and destroying the dreams of many. Diseases seem to have multiplied, ravaging the health of some and taking the lives of others. Our kids cut themselves and shoot their classmates. Our government is broken and refuses to reform. And the entire world, it seems, is filled with unrest and war. Fear and hopelessness seem to be winning.
In America, there is a divorce every 13 seconds, which equals 6,646 divorces a day and 46,523 per week. Fatherless homes account for 63 percent of youth suicides, 90 percent of homeless/runaway children, and 85 percent of youths in prison. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth between the ages of 10 and 24, with approximately 4,600 lives lost each year.
Major depressive disorder affects approximately 15 million American adults in a given year and is the leading cause of disability. Even our spiritual leaders are not immune—a staggering 70 percent of pastors constantly fight depression, and 1,500 of them leave the ministry each month.
People everywhere are looking for hope.
Hope is to the heart what seeds are to the earth. Without hope, life is sterile, unfruitful. Without it, dreams won’t be conceived and destinies won’t be realized. Hope is powerful because it is the starting line, the genesis, the launch pad. It is, in fact, the incubator where faith is formed: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for,” God tells us (Heb. 11:1, KJV).
Scripture tells us hope connects us to our source. The Old Testament word for hope has the connotation of a cord used as an attachment. The New Testament calls it “an anchor of the soul” (Heb. 6:19). Hope is a lifeline, a spiritual umbilical cord, a stabilizing force in times of trouble. Hope enables us to overcome the pain of loss, the stigma of shame and the paralyzing power of fear.
Never underestimate the power of hope. God has placed into the spiritual DNA of every believer the nature to hope, to overcome and to win!
Craig Brian Larson relates a story told in the Pentecostal Evangel by J.K. Gressett, who wrote about a man named Samuel S. Scull, who settled in the Arizona desert with his family:
“One night a fierce desert storm struck with rain, hail, and a high wind. At daybreak, feeling sick and fearing what he might find, Samuel went to survey their loss. The hail had beaten the garden into the ground; the house was partially unroofed; the henhouse had blown away and dead chickens were scattered about. Destruction and devastation were everywhere. While standing dazed, evaluating the mess and wondering about the future, he heard a stirring in the lumber pile that was the remains of the henhouse. A rooster was climbing up, and continued until he had mounted the highest board in the pile. That old rooster was dripping wet, and most of his feathers were blown away. But as the sun came over the eastern horizon, he flapped his bony wings and proudly crowed.”
When the morning sun appeared on the horizon, that beat-up, featherless rooster—amidst all the chaos and devastation—still crowed, announcing the beginning of a new day. Why? Because it was his nature to do so.
Winds of adversity may have blown through your life. Your world may be falling apart. But if you will look closely enough, you’ll see the light of God’s faithfulness shining through the debris. And you can rise above the devastation because it is your nature to overcome!
Listen to what God says about you in Romans 8:35-39. It is laced with the power of hope:
“Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not back-stabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture. … None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us” (MSG).
Wow! Choose to hope. Climb up out of the debris of your life, flap your bony wings, and announce to the world that you’ve entered a new day. God has programmed you to hope, to overcome, and to win!
Dutch Sheets is an internationally recognized teacher, conference speaker and author of The Power of Hope. He has written more than 20 books, translated into over 30 languages. His first work, Intercessory Prayer, sold nearly a million copies and is being used to empower believers worldwide for passionate prayer and societal transformation. He and his wife, Ceci, make their home in the Dallas area.
Curt Landry 
Michael L. Brown 
Rabbi Eric Tokajer