“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope” I Thessalonians 4:13.

The most exhilarating and empowering emotion on earth is Hope. It allows our minds to dream and our hearts to soar. When the days are dark, hope is what keeps us holding on, believing that the light will shine again. Without it, there is only bleak and empty despair.

Paul admonishes us not to live as those who are without hope, for we are not tethered down to grief and suffering. Every one of us will know it, but as Christians, our hope is anchored in Jesus Christ, who has conquered sin and death forever. We still live with its effects, but we also live with the hope of Christ within us, and the hope of eternal life with the perfection of God as our bright sun.

As my heart heals from past scars, I realize that the most successful thing the Enemy of Our Souls can do is to whisper in our ears that all is hopeless. Without hope, we give up. Something inside us slowly dies, so that we do not have the strength to dream, to try, to live abundantly. The gifts that God has given us go unused. The message that we could share with others goes unspoken. The life that could be given back to God as a song of praise is wasted.

We cannot live as those who do not have hope! God’s dream for our lives can be realized, and we must learn to share his dream.