Why Hope Lives Closer than You think

WHY HOPE LIVES CLOSER THAN YOU THINK, Photo by Marcelo Matarazzo on Unsplash
WHY HOPE LIVES CLOSER THAN YOU THINK, Photo by Ron Smith on Unsplash

Jenny and I traveled during early morning hours to attend a conference near the town I grew up in. I pointed out the window to a community in the country, “My friend lives there.”

It’s interesting to know where friends or people we meet live and work and worship. But what if we knew where hope lives?

Because life’s hurts, heartaches, and injustices often leave us feeling overwhelmed and hopeless.

Or, our dreams hunger for fulfillment.

Hope Lives Closer Than You Think

Google defines hope, “A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” All humans hope.

  • I hope to lose weight.
  • My friend carries many hopes in her heart.
  • Our pastor said not to give up hope.
  • We hope our brother pulls through this illness.

Yet, sometimes things happen differently than we wanted.

Hope exists in many forms. Although if we cling to false hopes, they soon fizzle and leave us empty-handed.

Women often come to me, a pastor’s wife, looking for authentic hope. Did I pray enough? Where is God? Will He come through for me?

These are women in tough places. Hearts broken by tragedy. Languishing dreams with no pillow to lay their heads. So I nod saying, “Me too.”

Finding Where True Hope Lives

You see, I want true hope. I’m betting so you do.

WHY HOPE LIVES CLOSER THAN YOU THINK, Photo by Tomas Jasovsky on Unsplash

This desire stirred my heart to search for the long-lasting kind. A quest more than just, come out, come out, wherever you are! And it needed roots in something other than this world. Therefore, I turned to God’s Word.

“For whatever was written in the former days was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4 ESV)

Because once we tap into the source of real hope, we make another discovery. True hope lives really close by.

The God of Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13 ESV)

God’s powerful actions and the work of His hands bring hope into our lives.

First, God fills us with His joy and peace, so that we abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. With help again from Google, abound means “exist in large numbers or amounts.” Synonyms include, “abundant.”

The verbs fill and abound illustrate the abundant life Christ promises believers. Leaving the grandeur of heaven, for our sake Jesus became poor so that we—joint-heirs with Him—become rich. We overflow with abundant hope.

Hope Lives in Us

When Jesus lives in us through the Holy Spirit, He brings hope near. It’s not just around the corner, off in the distance, or on the other side of glory. And hope is not something we muster up in our own power.

But hope’s something we possess—a gift from God.

We hope in Jesus. And Jesus is our hope. So, He’s the essence of authentic hope.

Just as our driver’s license displays our picture, describes a few of our physical attributes, and notes our address. Our Christian ID card contains descriptive terms: beloved, child of God, saint, in Christ, chosen, and free. Others should say; Oh, she looks like her Father. Hope lives in her. 

Hope lives wherever the presence of Jesus dwells—in you.

Walk forward in the Holy Spirit’s power, believing hope abounds in you, because it does.

WHY HOPE LIVES CLOSER THAN YOU THINK, Photo by Marcus Wallis on Unsplash

Featured Photo by Marcelo Matarazzo on Unsplash.

Top Photo by Ron Smith on Unsplash.

Middle Photo by Tomas Jasovsky on Unsplash.

Bottom Photo by Marcus Wallis on Unsplash.


Karen Friday

Whether the spoken or written word, Karen thrives in moving an audience to experience laughter, tears, surprise, and deep reflection. She not only possesses an affection for words (just ask her family), but she also cherishes God’s Word. Karen is an award-winning writer who has published both devotions and articles with a mission to know Jesus more and make Him known. She contributes to several national sites while she works on her first non-fiction book. In the blogging world, she is referred to as “Girl Friday” where she shares a central message: you are never far from hope. And she considers her life as a pastor’s wife and women’s ministry leader a sacred calling. Karen and her husband Mike reside in East Tennessee and have two grown children and two grandchildren. The entire family is fond of the expression, “TGIF: Thank God it’s Friday.” They owe Monday an apology. Connect with her blog community, Hope is Among Us.

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27 comments

  1. I love the new look and great blog on hope. God gives us eternal hope to walk through all the difficult places in our lives. His hope never fails us and is always close by us. Thanks

    1. Hey Yvonne, yes, eternal hope for life’s difficult places only comes from our God.

      And this is not my personal blog site. I write monthly for Inspire A Fire. Thanks for commenting.

    2. Hey Yvonne,

      Thanks for commenting. Yes, eternal hope for life’s hardships only comes from our God. And this is not my personal blog. I write monthly for Inspire A Fire.

    1. Thanks, Beth. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13 ESV)

    1. Appreciate your kind encouragement, Martha. When Jesus lives in us through the Holy Spirit, He brings hope near. It’s not just around the corner, off in the distance, or on the other side of glory. And hope is not something we muster up in our own power. But hope’s something we possess—a gift from God.

    1. Thanks so much, Leah. Glad this encouraged you. I love that passage of Scripture as well. Leaving the grandeur of heaven, for our sake Jesus became poor so that we—joint-heirs with Him—become rich. We overflow with abundant hope. Hallelujah!

  2. Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

    1. Isn’t that powerful, Francis. God fills us with His joy and peace, so that we abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Thanks for commenting.

  3. Oh, where would we be without hope, Karen? And our hope is an expectation of something that will surely happen. That’s the kind of hope God comforts us with, living right inside of us, closer than we sometimes even want to believe. Thank you for this inspiring message and for declaring God’s promise.

    1. Stephen, it is a hope that is sure and trustworthy. Calvary’s cross and an empty tomb brought hope near and to live inside of anyone who calls on the name of Jesus Christ! Thanks for commenting.

  4. Hope certainly is such a difficult concept to grasp. But, oh, how thankful I am that I know I can hope in Jesus! I don’t know how people who don’t know Him get through the difficult times!

    1. That’s something I’ve never understood either, Emily. How does one get through the hardships of life with no real hope to cling to? Thankful we possess hope as a gift from God himself!

  5. I like the distinction you made between true hope and false hope. We need not hope in the things of this world, yet if our only hope is Him, it is enough! Thanks- and I love the new look!

    1. Yes, there’s all kinds of hope floating around, but if it’s not firmly grounded in the real God of hope, it fizzles and leaves us empty handed every time. God really is our only hope. As you said, it is enough!

  6. Amen — “True hope lives really close by.” It truly does! I used to think it was so far off, but with Jesus in my heart, I’m secure in the knowledge that everything is more than OK. Thanks, Karen!

    1. It certainly is, Jessica! Just as our driver’s license displays our picture, describes a few of our physical attributes, and notes our address. Our Christian ID card contains descriptive terms: beloved, child of God, saint, in Christ, chosen, and free. Others should say; “Oh, she looks like her Father. Hope lives in her.” What marvelous hope!

  7. I love your posts, Karen. They make one think and relish our God. Hope is said to be the one thing people cannot live without. Many give up on life because they have lost hope. Many suffer great pain because hope is not in sight. But all these are lies. We do have hope, hope that lives and breathes today and for all eternity. My favorite quote from your post is, “Our Christian ID card contains descriptive terms: beloved, child of God, saint, in Christ, chosen, and free. Others should say; Oh, she looks like her Father. Hope lives in her.” Oh, how I want others to see Jesus as my Father in me! 🙂 Thank you for such an encouraging word today! 🙂

    1. Thanks so much, Marcie. Your comment hits home when it comes to how people see hope and become hopeless. I just don’t understand how others live without a true, authentic hope that exists only in Jesus Christ. We hope in Him and He IS hope. That makes Him the noun and verb of hope.

  8. Love this teaching, Karen! How we need hope, but you are right, what are we really hoping in and for? Our hope is in Christ and His finished work on the cross. Our hope is in God and His great kingdom plans which have eternal ripple effects. Our hope is in the Lord! May we fix our eyes on Jesus that the desires of our heart align with His. When we put our hope in ourselves or anything less than Jesus, we will be sadly disappointed every time. Jesus is our hope!

    1. So true, Melissa. Other false forms of hope exists, but they also let us down and never offer real, authentic, powerful hope in Christ. Jesus really is our only hope.

  9. What would we do without Jesus! Our hope in him is what gets us through this life and into eternity! Without him, we have nothing. Upon him, and him alone, do we place our hope. This world will let us down. Every person we know will let us down st one time or another. He will never let us down. He is with us for eternity, and he works even the things we don’t understand together for our good.

    1. So true, Melinda. Without Jesus we would truly be a hopeless people. But God gives us the only hope that’s still standing when the other kinds of hope fizzle and fade away.

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