“Hope” is the thing with feathers–
That perches in the soul–
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.
This portion of the poem by Emily Dickinson resonates with us for a lot of reasons. One reason is that we can’t always identify what causes us to have hope. We don’t understand where it comes from or why we look for it to appear. Perhaps it really does perch in the soul and rest there, humming a tune that renews our spirits when we need it the most. We appreciate it because even when we get discouraged, it doesn’t take long before we’re hopeful again.
Romans 5:5 says that hope does not disappoint us because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit is a caretaker of our souls, it’s a good place for hope to reside. There are times when we hope for things that don’t happen, or at least they don’t happen in the way we expected. Despite our initial disappointment, it doesn’t take long before something deep within us begins to hum. We are renewed by a glimmer of hope. It is helpful to recognize that God poured His love into our hearts and He gave us hope, along with comfort, and then instruction from the Holy Spirit to move forward again.
Hope is one of the essential building blocks of life. It motivates us to try harder and inspires us to dream bigger. It persuades us to look up and remember that we always have options. It helps us to sing a new song.
Hope is alive and well and it never stops at all.
One writer declared that “there is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow.”
May your heart and mind be renewed with hope and peace today.