I put in my earbuds and started my run. The story began again and started setting the scene for the chapter. I was listening to my favorite audiobook. Each chapter in the book had a saying that was insightful before starting the story. The saying for this chapter was “The only thing you must not lose is hope.” My brain started going as I thought about that quote.

Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. Yet how it is often used is an optimistic desire, not a feeling of expectation.

So then why are we so willing to give up on a desire when it seems to pass by instead of trusting that it will come again? God gives us desires and wants us to rejoice when we are able to obtain them. God will push us to be able to achieve what He has placed in our hearts.

The only thing we cannot lose is hope.

The only thing we cannot lose is God’s Word. God says that He will provide for us but when we give up on what He has placed on our hearts, we lose track of Him.

Hope is like a line tying us to Him or like a safety vest keeping us afloat. So when you are in the water unwillingly, it is still an uncomfortable situation but the safety vest is keeping you from drowning. Yet when we throw our hope away, we are left untied to God and adrift, floundering to keep our heads above the water.

God is a good captain and therefore will leave the 99 to save us, but it takes a minute to turn the boat, so why must we become detached in the first place?

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?” – (Matthew 18:12) – He will always come after us no matter how far we have wandered.

Reckless Love by Bethel

Sharing Hope for the Next Generation,

Bryce