But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.  Isaiah 40:31

Unbelievable as it may seem, it is possible for a person to live up to seventy days without food. It is also possible to exist for nearly ten days without water.  And one can live for up to six minutes without air. But there is one thing it is impossible to live without – hope.

You can lose your business, your money, and maybe even your family, but hope is the one thing you cannot afford to lose. For hope keeps man alive. It climbs over obstacles when no one is helping. It arouses the mind to explore possibilities. It sweetens when bitterness bites. It makes us optimists for tomorrow. It hangs in when everything seems to be slipping away. It smiles when no one is laughing. It urges us on. And it gives radiance despite the darkness. As O. S. Marden says, “There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow.”

The trouble is, hope seems to be in short supply. The average person doesn’t have it and doesn’t know where to get it. He’s simply enduring the present or waiting for the future. Going through the motions. Performing according to his fears. Wondering how to make it. Surviving on forgotten dreams.

But it needn’t be that way. You can look forward to tomorrow. Have a new song in your heart. Overcome failure. Defeat depression. Endure all things. Climb every mountain. Live it like it could be.

All it takes is a change of heart. As it says in Matthew 22:37, You must “love the Lord   . . . with all your heart.”

It’s that simple. When you love the Lord with all your heart, you’ll discover certainty in an uncertain world. You’ll anticipate each day with confident expectation. You won’t be moved by the vagrancies of life. You’ll be freed from condemnation. You’ll have courage to endure. And you’ll be strengthened with patience and love.

For when you love the Lord with all your heart He’s promised to “to make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:6), to deliver you from the hand of the wicked, to be the Comforter, to be the One who can be relied upon, to be your strong refuge, to be with you when you’re old, to be “your salvation all day long” (Psalm 71:15), to be your friend, to give you fullness of life.

So why not trust in the God of hope? Why not give your heart to the One who can be your all in all? And why not discover how Jesus makes the difference between hope and hopelessness – between life and death?