Almost everyone anticipates something good especially when there is a prior promise. This is hope. It is that earnest anticipation or confident expectation that comes with believing something positive. Hope is built on faith.

Unfortunately, things do not happen the way we expect or when we expect them. We suffer delay and soon discouragement, disappointment and sometimes despair sets in. We lose hope.

How then can I keep hope alive when my heart becomes sick and giving up hope?

1. Understand the Difference in Time Zones. The time in America is not the same with that of Africa; heaven does not work with earth’s clock. Mary and Martha expected Him to come immediately and heal their brother Lazarus but He had a different schedule. We must remember that He makes things beautiful in His own time. His time is best.

2. Rely On His Faithfulness. You can trace God’s track record from Abraham to Lazarus, He has always kept His promise. We can rely on His credibility. He is not a man that He should lie.

3. Renew Your Mind. Hope fades from forgetfulness. Go back to the promises and prophecies He gave you. Hope is renewed when we renew our minds with His words.

4. Remind Him. Spend time in prayer reminding Him of His promises. He commands us to “put me in remembrance.” (Isaiah 43:26). This also renews your own strength as you wait on Him.

5. Listen to Contemporary Testimonies. Sometimes we need living proofs. This is why it is important to give attention to the testimonies of God’s people around us. Nothing gives us hope more than knowing that God’s power is still at work today. We gain more confidence that He will do it for us if He did it for others.

6. Speak To Yourself. This was the practice of the Psalmist. He often speaks to himself when his heart grows weak. In Psalm 43:5, he spoke to himself and said, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.” When we release empowering words from our own mouths, we become empowered and our hope is renewed.

7. Speak To Someone. Sometimes, it is not even the solution to our problems that we seek but a heart that cares and an ear that listens. When we find that person, hope comes alive, our burdens are lifted and we see our predicaments from a positive perspective. Nothing sucks like bottling up issues on our heart. Speaking to someone gives us the opportunity to vent our burdens.

We should never forget that God has “given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” 1 Peter 1:3 NIV. We have “the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time” Titus 1:2 NIV.

“And hope does not disappoint…”Romans 5:5 NASB. This is why it has to be kept alive. Hope is the anchor of our soul; we cannot afford to lose it.

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