Show Hope

As we continue to look at leaving our mark of influence on the world, this week we focus on showing our hope in God to the people who cross our paths. Our biblical example for this is Samuel, and the foundation of confidence in God that began with his mother, Hannah. From Hannah’s story, we see desperation turned into a hope in God’s ability that we can all learn from. What a great story to study on Mother’s Day! Take a few minutes to read the following excerpt from the LifeMatters Learner Guide, and think about the questions included below.

“I hope so.” How often do we toss around that phrase? We hope our favorite sports team will win the big game, we hope we’ll be able to ace that test, or we hope our boss is impressed by the presentation we gave.

Hope is a great thing to have in all areas of life, but placing hope in the things of this world—people, work, health, and so on—is risky. When our sources of hope go sour (as they all do), rebuilding hope, trust, and confidence can be an arduous process. For this reason, only God is a reliable source of hope.

Throughout Scripture, we read promise after promise that God will never abandon us or fail us, and that He is working everything out for His good plan (not our comfort or convenience), regardless of how it seems today.

Samuel is one of many models of hope in Scripture. Despite the Israelites’ poor decisions while Samuel was their judge, he maintained hope that the people would worship and depend on God. This hope motivated Samuel to pray for the people—despite how they treated him—and to encourage them in their faith.

By letting others see our hope in God, we can positively influence a world in desperate need of lasting hope.

Does hope come naturally for you or is it a challenge?

What are some of the dynamics of faith that you can put your hope in?

How does hopefulness affect your character? How does it affect your level of influence?