hopefulness? or hopelessness?

i love that feeling i get when the sky is full of gray clouds, and then i catch a glimpse of patchy blue showing its face from behind the veil of darkness. it's the same feeling i get when i see david's first smile or hear him say a kind word to me after a fight. it happens after a repentant prayer, crying out for His mercy. it's called hope. and nothing can match it, and nothing can beat it, and there's nothing like it. without hope, life is a torture chamber for prisoners of war.

have you ever met someone stripped down to naked hopelessness? have you ever looked into the eyes of someone in so much pain that they felt it would be more beneficial to die than to take another breath of air? or someone that has given up with no intention on doing anything but go through the motions of life? they've lost their hope.

have you met the one who, despite trial and tribulation, finds something to smile about? no matter what this life does to them, they just keep fighting, keeping their head up...they have hope.

which are you?

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in GOD; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my GOD.—Psalm 42:11

 

For you, O LORD, are my hope,
my trust, O LORD, from my youth.

—Psalm 71:5 

 

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

 

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

—Romans 12:12