Get Your Hopes Up!
By Rachel Barrentine
Founder of AnchorHouseTV
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” -Proverbs 13:12 NIV
Hope is a powerful substance. It breathes life and gives us the ability to keep going. We get physically ill when we run out of hope. I can think of a number of instances when I felt hope leave my body. It felt like something sucked the life right out of me. It’s hard to wake up, move, sleep, or do anything productive. Hopelessness is heavy, and it is not what the Lord created us for! Hallelujah.
Hopelessness is actually an illusion. It’s a lie. Here’s why. The Word says that God is hope!
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." - Romans 15:13 NKJV
Because God is always present, there is literally no place or situation you can walk into where hope does not exist. Hope is a constant because God is constant. We walk in hopelessness when we forget that God is good, and how present He is in our here and now.
There’s a lot of theology about heaven and the God of our future. We have a future glory and a future hope for sure. We will get to experience heaven after we die. But we miss the God of right now when we place our “hope” too far out. Hope is right here because our precious God embodies hope. I may feel the emotion of hopelessness, but that feeling is not based on the truth. We need to tell our heart, body, and soul (mind, will, and emotions) about our Papa God who cares, sees, and is hope.
Because you can’t escape God’s presence, you can’t escape hope. So what’s the key? Let it in. Receive it. Ask for a fresh anointing of hope. Listen to hope. Speak hope. Tell your heart to hope. Declare and decree hope wherever you go. There is no place like hope!
On a practical level, listed below are 3 things you can do today to increase your levels of hope.
“Get Your Hopes Up” Tips!
Talk to your heart. The Psalmist David did this. Psalm 43:5 NIV “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed with me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” David is decreeing hope over his own soul, and we need to do this too. Place your hand over your heart and declare hope. You can say something like this… “Soul, I release hope over you. I declare that your best days are ahead. The presence of God, the Spirit of Hope resides in you and I decree it to come alive today! Hope, in Jesus name, I commend you to be installed into my soul today, in extra measure. So be it!”
Turn off hopeless voices. Don’t waste your time with media or news that doesn’t carry hope. It is only telling one side of the story, and it isn’t reality. It’s releasing a reality void of God, His power, and perspective and it resembles a spirit of atheism! I’m not saying you should be ignorant of current events, but if your screen-time out- does your God-time, your perspective is going to reflect the screen. Be sure to turn up the media and voices anchored in hope, and turn down the other voices. A couple pieces of media you might enjoy are, “Talk to Your Heart” and “Get Your Hopes Up” on the AnchorHouse TV app . Watch these over and over if you need them. Go on a treasure hunt for hope! It’s all around you if you awaken to it.
Use the What hope wants you to know resource on AHTV. I’m telling you, when you feel down and hopeless it’s hard to dig yourself out of that pit all alone. Use the resources that others have developed as shovels. These resources can get in the pit with you and help dig you out. Don’t forget that hopeful people, healthy community, are one of your greatest resources! Reach out. Make that phone call. Text someone and tell them you’re struggling. Send out a distress signal. The people who love you will respond. That signal may save your life. Additionally, if God brings someone to mind that you sense is in a hopeless pit, by all means, reach out and encourage them! Don’t bypass that prompt or nudge. You may be their lifeline right in that moment. Too many people are in a pit by themselves begging for help. When you feel that prompt, grab your shovel, and start putting hope into their pit.
For some reason, I feel prompted to say this too. Sometimes, we get into such dark, hopeless places we actually need medication. There are times when grief, sadness, body chemistry, hormones, or various other things just need to be adjusted or remedied through medicine, herbs, or professional counseling. All healing is from the Lord. Every resource, even gifted physicians or professional counselors, can be a part of God’s healing package for you. It’s not a lesser healing, just like taking a round of antibiotics for a raging sinus infection is not a lesser healing. God is for you. Listen for His voice. It always sounds like hope!
Joyfully,
Rachel B.
Founder, AnchorHouse TV
About Rachel Barrentine
Rachel Barrentine is the founder, leader minister and president of ACHORHOUSE TV - an app and website created to anchor people in the Word and ways of God through multimedia, creative content and healthy community. Rachel’s experience in Bible college and time as a worship and youth pastor have given her a solid foundation for faith-equipping others. Together with her creative experience as an award winning singer-songwriter, author and speaker, she is bringing to life with the ANCHORHOUSE team a rich diversity of “divine ideas” and Word-anchoring resources. To join the growing AHTV community, download the ANCHORHOUSE TV APP for free! You can also follow on INSTAGRAM AND FACEBOOK.
Rachel’s HOPE reSOURCES:
What Hope Wants You To Know (2 min. read/printable)
Hope Declarations (2 min. read/printable)
Talk to Your Heart (Video Vignette, 3 min. watch)
Get Your Hopes up (Video Vignette, 3 min. watch)
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