Get Your Hopes Up

Hello, Porch. Good to see you. What a gift to be here. Thanks, Kylen. I have been encouraged by the ministry of The Porch for a very, very long time, so it's a bit surreal for me to get to be here. I know you're here all the time. I'm sure you know how amazing it is that you get to be a part of this. What God is doing in and through this ministry is incredible. So, from Atlanta to you, thank you, and thanks for having me here tonight, Kylen.

I love listening to Kylen preach. I love listening to TA preach. It's not really fair that they're at the same church. It's a real gift to be here. I'm so excited about the message I believe the Lord has given me for us tonight. I want to introduce you just a little bit. I know you don't need to know everything about me, but just a little bit since it's my first time here.

This is a picture of my family. My wife and I have been married for just over 10 years. These are our three girls. The oldest on the bottom left is Mercy, the blonde is Ember, and Charleigh is our baby. Mercy is a typical firstborn. She asks for extra homework and has never broken a rule in her life. Ember… We're not sure if she's going to run a very large company one day or be incarcerated. Time will tell. Charleigh is just happy to be alive. You know, third kid. Never had a bad day in her life. It's crazy how much joy they bring to my life. I love them a lot.

I'm part of Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia. I've been on team there for over 12 years, currently serving as the teaching pastor. I'm so grateful that the Lord has invited me into what he's doing. It's not the message tonight, but if I can just put a message before the message, the message would be God's plans for your life are so much better than your plans for your life. I hope you believe that to be true.

I've loved journeying along these last few weeks. It has been amazing, as you've been talking about mental health and health and perspective and navigating all that. As I felt what the Lord was putting on my heart to share tonight, it was kind of beautiful how I think these things belong together. The title of the message tonight is Get Your Hopes Up. Can you just tell your neighbor that? Tell them, "You should get your hopes up."

Here's what I want you to understand. I believe this with all of my heart. I believe our health and our hope are inextricably linked together, that our health and our hope are part of the same conversation. Maybe you've heard it said before, you can go 40 days without food (that's pretty wild; I don't know if I really could or not, but apparently you can), you can go 4 days without water, you can go 4 minutes without air, but you can't go 4 seconds without hope.

I know when we talk about hope, there's immediately this thing that happens in us. Some of us chalk hope up to this ethereal, touchy-feely, "belongs in the self-help aisle of the bookstore," but what I'm hoping the Lord will open our eyes to see today is hope is what we have as the people of God. Hope is not just blind optimism; it is gritty theology. We are meant to display to the world a sure and confident hope. So, if we are people who belong to the God of hope, then we should get our hopes up. You should get your hopes up.

I don't know how your hope is doing right now. I don't know if you feel hopeful and confident about what the future holds for you. I don't know if you have all kinds of fog in front of you, and you're going, "I don't know, man. I don't know if what's in front of me is good or not." I want to say to you on the authority of God's Word today…not a self-help message, but from his Word today…you should get your hopes up. God has great things in store for you. He has given great purpose to your life, and his plans for you are good. Do you believe that?

I'm not saying they're going to be easy. I'm not saying they're going to be comfortable. I'm not saying you're going to get the internship, you're going to get the job, and you're going to get the girl. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying they're good. His plans for you are good. Do you believe that? As the people of God, we are meant to live with this expectation, eagerness, and anticipation that, as I survey the landscape, or even as I look at my own life, oftentimes I don't have.

Have you ever gotten your hopes up only to be disappointed? That's not a good feeling, is it? Yesterday (this is kind of crazy) in Atlanta, Georgia, it was snowing. Look it up. You all think I'm lying. Look it up. It was snowing. Now, I'm not talking about, like, we were sledding, but I'm saying there was snow that came down from the sky yesterday in Atlanta, Georgia.

When we picked our kids up from school, there were snow flurries happening, and they had all the plans. "We're going to cancel school tomorrow. We're going to go sledding. We're going to do all the stuff we've seen in all of the movies." Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia (probably similar if you grew up in Dallas, Texas), the idea of snow is a constant topic of getting your hopes up only to be disappointed. You're going to go to school tomorrow, and you ain't going to be able to sled, because you live in Dallas, Texas, or Atlanta, Georgia. It's a hard thing.

This summer, the girls were wanting to go to the pool constantly. We had a month where it felt like it rained every single day. We'd be at the dinner table, and they would say to me, "Daddy, can we please go to the pool tomorrow? Can we please go to the pool tomorrow?" I was kind of conflicted, because I wanted to say to them, "Of course we can go to the pool tomorrow," but I also knew the forecast was 100 percent chance of rain.

So, I would just try to be a good dad. I was like, "Yeah, we can go to the pool tomorrow." Then the next morning at breakfast, I'd be having breakfast with two girls in Moana bathing suits who were ready to go to the pool, and it was pouring down rain outside. I would watch their faces kind of collapse. It's not a fun thing to get your hopes up only to be disappointed.

Maybe it's something like a sports team you thought was going to be good, and then they were like they always were. Or maybe it was a college application. You thought you were going to get into a certain school. You had a plan for your life, but instead of an acceptance letter, you got a rejection letter. Your hopes got up, and then you got crushed. Maybe you experienced it with a relationship, somebody who told you one thing and then did a different thing.

Maybe you experienced it with a parent, somebody who committed to your family, and you thought they would always be there, and then all of a sudden they just up and left. You got your hopes up for what life would be like only to be disappointed and crushed. Or maybe, for you, it was a career. For me, I spent 20 years of my life thinking I was going to do one thing with my life, play a game for the rest of my life, only for injury to come and a doctor to tell me I could never play the game again. My hopes were up, and in 30 seconds, they came crashing down.

I remember when my wife and I were buying our first house. This is not a fun process. It's less fun now because the interest rates are, like, 10 percent, but it wasn't fun when I bought a house either. I can remember we went to the first house with our real estate agent. We walked in, and it was amazing. I mean, it was tiny. It was like 800 square feet.

We walked in, and it looked like Chip and Joanna had just been there. There was shiplap everywhere, like, on every wall. We're walking around, my newlywed wife and me, and we're like, "This is what this room is going to be. This is what this room is going to be." That was all of the rooms. "It's going to be awesome!"

We went out and… I'm not kidding you. I have a picture on my phone. We went out into the driveway, we held hands, and we were like, "This is going to be so amazing." In our minds, we had already moved into the house. Let me just prewarn you if you haven't bought a house yet. You aren't going to get the first house you look at. Our real estate agent called us a few hours later and said, "Hey, somebody paid all cash for the house, and they bought it at \$100,000 over asking price." I was like, "Who are all of these rich jokers with \$100,000 cash?"

We went into the next house, and our hopes were high, but not as high as the first house. Then we went into the next one and didn't get it, and then we went into the next one and didn't get it, and then we went into the next one and didn't get it. Every single time we walked into a new house, even if we loved the house, as a way of protecting ourselves from disappointment, we refused to get our hopes up.

I am convinced there are many of us in this room who are living life like that. Somehow, at some turn in life, you got your hopes up and got disappointed. As a way of self-preservation, as a way of not having to navigate through the storms of life, you've just refused to allow your hopes to get up for anything. God has a different plan for your life. As people who belong to Christ, as people who are bought by his blood, as people who belong as sons and daughters of the God of hope, we are meant to live with confident expectation.

So, I came to Dallas tonight to ask you a simple question: How's your hope? For those of you who are barely hanging on today, the writer of Hebrews tells us we can have an unshakable hope as an anchor for our souls, firm and secure. That's Hebrews, chapter 6. What would it look like in your life if you had a hope that was firm and secure, not fragile but firm, not shifting based on the circumstances of life but secure based on the fact that you belong to the King of Kings?

What I want to do for a few minutes is look at Romans, chapter 15. We're going to read 13 verses, but we're going to spend almost our entire time in just one verse, the last verse, the benediction of Romans, chapter 15. This is a section that Charles Spurgeon called one of the richest passages in the entire Word of God. So, if you have your Bible, I invite you to turn to Romans, chapter 15. I'm going to begin reading in verse 1. I think it's important that we see the context. That's why we're going to read the first few verses together.

"We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: 'The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.' For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.

As it is written: 'Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.' Again, it says, 'Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.' And again, 'Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.' And again, Isaiah says, 'The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.' May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Amen. What a verse. Look at that verse. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." The ESV translates it this way: "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."

This is really like the exclamation point at the end of 15 chapters of brilliant doctrine from Paul. It's really the end of his teaching in Romans. After this, you pretty much just have a few final remarks and final greetings to a few people. So, the crescendo of the book of Romans ends with this exclamation point, that we should, as people who belong to the King, live lives that overflow with hope. I want you to see a few things.

1. God is the only true source of hope. You see it in the text. Paul says here, "The God of hope." Maybe it would be helpful to try to define hope. Webster defines hope as a "desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in its fulfillment." It is to want something to happen. That's how Webster defines hope. But for the believer, hoping is not wishing. Biblical hope is way more than a simple wish. It entails certainty based on God's demonstration of faithfulness in the past and confidence that he will be faithful in the future.

Our hope as believers is not blind optimism; it is calculated faith. Optimism is psychological; biblical hope is theological. Optimism counts up the odds; biblical hope counts on and in the God of hope. I love how John Piper says this. He says, "Biblical hope is biblical faith in the future tense." Don't you love that? Hope is the result of trusting in God.

Paul says, "May the God of hope…" Now, this doesn't mean God of hope, like, he's a God who has hope for the future. "I have a hopeful God." That's not what Paul is saying. God is omniscient. He knows how everything is going to work out tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next day and the next day. He has never been surprised. He has never Googled anything. He has never been informed of anything. He knows everything. It's a prerequisite for being God. He doesn't have to be hopeful for tomorrow because he's God.

So, it's not that he's a hopeful God, so what's Paul trying to say here? Well, it says he's the God of hope. I know many of you won't care about this, but when I was in seminary, we were taught that this is a genitive of product. That does something for any of the nerds in the room today. In seminary, I was taught the best way to understand a genitive of product is to put which or who produces in its place. When you do that, this starts to make a little bit of sense.

"May the God who produces hope…" Do you see it? He's the source. He is the only true source. He produces hope. He is the fountain of hope. This is our God. Yet, all throughout the pages of this book, all throughout the years of your life, and all throughout the years of my life, we have looked to a million other sources for hope. In fact, I'm convinced that many of us feel hopeless because we have hoped in less than the God of hope. Hope is the result of trusting in God, yet we have trusted in so many other things, and it's crippling our hope and our health.

The CDC released some data in 2023 that was pretty alarming. It stated that 40 percent of American teenagers reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. I would suggest that many of them and many of us feel hopeless because we have settled for hoping in less than the God of hope. We see this all throughout the Scripture. You see it in the Old Testament. Jeremiah was known as the Weeping Prophet. In Jeremiah 2:11-13, it says:

"'Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols. Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror,' declares the Lord. 'My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.'"

I want you to see the picture of what's happening here. A cistern was this man-made, normally pear-shaped, deep hole with plaster. It would be cut down into the rocks, either in a community or sometimes in a wealthy family right outside of their home, and it was used to store water from the rain. So, what the people were doing… The people had depended on God time and time again, year after year after year.

He would bring the rain, which was a sign of blessing, and provide for his people. Yet at some point, the people said, "You know what? Let's dig a hole, let's put some plaster in it, and let's store up the rainwater just in case. Just in case the rain cuts off tomorrow, we will have saved up enough for ourselves today. Let's just have a backup plan. We'll still believe in God. We'll still trust him for the rain, but just so we have a plan B, let's build a cistern out back."

I know what that's like. I would guess many of you know what that's like. I know when to raise my hands in worship, when to pat my chest. I know how to sing all of the songs. I know my Scripture. I'm in church every time the doors are open. I know how to do all the Christian things. I would pass the multiple-choice test at heaven's gates if there were to be one. Yet functionally in my life, God exists to save me where my plans don't work out. That led me, and that leads everybody who lives that way, into hopelessness.

Israel rejected God from whom water had always flowed, and they sought to replace God with cracked, leaky cisterns that would always be empty. They trusted in themselves instead of God, and they faded into hopelessness, because what they built with their hands could never provide for what they longed for in their hearts. Misplaced trust produces fragile hope. Many of us know that.

All throughout the Psalms, you see this same picture, like in Psalm 33. This is an amazing psalm. It says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind…" That's pretty crazy to think about. "…from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth-he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.

No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you."

Do you see it? Psalm 20:7: "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." In many more psalms, you see this picture that there was a group of people who trusted in horses and chariots and the strength of their horse. You're like, "What is all that about? What's the big deal with the horses?"

Well, in that day, horses represented strength, status, and prestige. They were the most feared military instrument of the day. They represented victory, and many people were tempted to trust in them. Yet Psalm 33:16 says, "A horse is a vain hope," or maybe a better translation is "…a false hope for deliverance, for victory. Despite all its strength, it cannot save or rescue us."

I don't know about you, but sometimes when you read that, you're like, "Okay. Got it. That's helpful. Thanks. Move on. I'm not really tempted to put my trust in a horse, and I'm not tempted to put my trust in a chariot. I work for Deloitte in downtown Dallas. I ain't got any horses, and I don't own any chariots, so I'm good." What I want you to see is the objects change, but the sickness in our hearts remains the same.

It's very likely that nobody in this room is tempted to put their hope in a horse, unless you own a horse in the Kentucky Derby or something, and I don't know anybody who owns a chariot. These are not the objects we're tempted to trust in. But be very careful that you don't read that text and think you pass the test, because we are all tempted to put our trust in many things other than the only one who truly can be trusted. Maybe, for us, it would be something more like this.

Some, in 2025, trust in performance and some trust in promotions. Some trust in followers and some trust in fame. Some trust in people and some trust in products. Some trust in sales and some trust in savings. Some trust in internships and some trust in influencers. Some trust in their productivity and some trust in pornography. Some trust in crypto and some trust in crystals. Some trust in "likes" and some trust in looks. Some trust in politicians and some trust in podcasters. Some trust in trophies and some trust in titles.

Some trust in girlfriends and some trust in grad school. Some trust in boyfriends and some trust in brand names. Some trust in traditions and some trust in therapists. Some trust in inheritances and some trust in institutions. Some trust in their résumé and some trust in their resources. Some trust in fitness and some trust in 401(k)s. Some trust in medication and some trust in magic. Some trust in scrolling and some trust in self-care. Some trust in education and some trust in experience. Some trust in vapes and some trust in vlogs. Some trust in status and some trust in stuff. Some of us trust in this and some of us trust in that.

The point is we are all tempted to trust in created things instead of the Creator. Even as good as some of them may be, they are all a false hope for victory. It's like the Lord said to Jeremiah: they hold no water. That's an expression we use. Have you ever heard somebody say, "That argument doesn't hold any water"? What does it mean when someone says, "It doesn't hold any water"? It means it's not a trustworthy saying. It's not dependable. It can't hold you.

If hope is our confident expectation in the future, then to be hopeless is to be insecure and uncertain about the future. If you take it another layer down, to be insecure is simply to be not secure. You doubt that something holds water or, more importantly, you doubt that something can hold you. Have you ever sat in a chair you didn't know could hold you? I did at my sister-in-law's house. I knew from the moment I saw it, but everybody else took all of the other chairs.

So, I sat in the little back deck chair she bought at Publix, which is not where you're supposed to buy your outdoor furniture. I could tell by the color of the chair how much it had been rained on and that there was no structural integrity left to the chair. So, I kind of did a half squat/half sit-down until my legs started shaking, and then I realized, "I'm just going to have to go with it." As soon as I put my full weight on that chair, all four legs just went straight on the ground. I knew it couldn't hold me.

Or you get into the lobby and press the elevator button, and it opens up, and there are 17 people on there. The people on the elevator say, "Come on. There's room in here." What's wrong with all you sick people who do that? I will say, "I'll get the next one." Why am I saying that? I'm saying, "I'm insecure about that. I'm not sure it can hold me. I'm not even sure it can hold all y'all, but you shoot yourself. I'm not sure I'm getting on there." What I am insecure about I don't trust in.

The dependability of what you trust in determines the durability of what you hope for. So, if you trust in money, the volatility of interest rates and the markets will short-circuit your hope. If you trust in people, the moment they change their mind, you lose your hope. Yet the writer of Hebrews says there is a hope as an anchor for our souls, firm and secure. Dependable is what he's saying. Durable is what he's saying.

If the dependability of what you trust in determines the durability of what you hope for… The Hebrews writer is saying there's a place, a person you can trust in that's firm and secure as an anchor for your soul, and the shifting winds of life and the unforeseen circumstances of tomorrow may knock you down, but they won't steal your hope from you. Why? Because you're hoping in something that can't be defeated and can't be lost. It is firm and secure.

John Calvin said something like, "When men seek their happiness in the world, they are seeking a shadow that soon vanishes. Only in God is hope secure and eternal." Yet many of us are hopeless because we have hoped in less than the Rock of Ages. The famous hymn writer Edward Mote wrote in 1834:

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean…

It's like me on the chair, but you can lean on this. It won't let you down. It won't fail you.

…but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand:

All other ground is sinking sand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

All of us today find ourselves in one of three places. You have no hope, false hope, or true and eternal hope. Paul says in Ephesians 2 that to be without God is to be without hope. Why? Because God is the only true source of hope.

2. God is the supplier of hope. You see it in Romans 15:13. This is the good news. Not only does he have it; he gives it. Anybody in the room today who came in tonight feeling hopeless can leave hopeful. You can move toward having an eternal hope, a secure hope, an unchanging hope, an unshakable hope, a dependable hope, a durable hope. You can have that. Why? Because the God of hope is also the giver of hope. The source is also the supplier.

He will fill you with all joy and peace is what Paul says in Romans 15. "He will fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him." Do you see the mental picture? Trust is the root and hope is the fruit. As you trust deeply in Christ, hope grows as the fruit of your life. We need hope, don't we? Why? Because life is hard.

Life was hard for these first-century believers living in Rome that Paul was writing to. They were plagued with disunity and division. Jew and Gentile tensions were raging. The context of this benediction is in a section where Paul is instructing them, "Get together. Quit fighting with each other. We're one people now in Christ." In the middle of that torn-apart community with dissension and disunity comes this text.

Life is hard. We should expect that. This isn't a self-help message. This isn't a "Let's all have hope" message. This is gritty theology. Life is hard, and you're going to need hope. We should expect that. If I can be honest with you, the rest of this year is not going to go exactly how you have it planned out in your Notes app on your phone. There's going to be an unexpected call. There's going to be a turn you didn't see coming. There's going to be something that will happen that you did not foresee. We should expect that…letdowns, failures, and disappointments.

Jesus told us in John 16:33, "In this world you will have trouble." You will have trouble. But here's what I want you to see. Sometimes in the church we talk about these verses that are key verses, but we only read part of them. I want you to see all of this verse, "In this world you will have trouble." Look at the first part. Jesus' red letters say, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace."

Then what does he say? "In this world you're going to have trouble." You're like, "Okay. I'm not sure that I have peace, but…" That's why he told us these things. Then he sandwiches that with "But take heart! I have overcome the world." We read so much doom and gloom into this text when the whole point is peace. A.W. Tozer said, "While it looks like things are out of control, behind the scenes there is a God who has not surrendered his authority." He has told us these things so that we may have peace.

Look back at Romans 15:4. "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope." If you want to be a man or woman of hope, you'd better learn to love this Word. That's what Paul says in Romans 15:4.

"The endurance taught in the Scriptures…" This God-breathed Word of God exists so that we can know God, yes; so that we can understand how the Holy Spirit propels us to live the life he has called us to, yes; but so that we don't lean toward despair. Even in the fogginess and windiness of this world, we can remain confident that our King is coming back, and when he comes back, he's going to make everything right. So, I can have hope even through the darkest of nights. Why? Because I know this Word of God.

I just want to encourage you and your generation with that tonight. If you don't hear anything else I say tonight, I'm praying you will learn to love this Word. You will eat it. You will love it. You will desire it. You will wake up in the morning looking to steal away with this Word of God. You wouldn't rely on podcasters and preachers to tell you what this thing says. You have it for yourself. Don't just be in it; be under it.

It's one thing to be in it. That's awesome. You got your verse of the day. Click! "I did that." That's amazing. Great. Take a picture or whatever. But it's so much more powerful to be under it. When was the last time you were reading it and had to put it down and go, "Oh, wow. I've got to make a change in my life. Oh, wow. I've got to text that person and apologize. Oh, wow. I've got to make this situation right over here. Oh, wow. I've got to write a letter to that person."

We have to feast on this Word if we want fuel for the difficulties of life. I want that for you. My life changed, not just because I got into the walls of the church (though, yes, that's amazing, and we're all called to be in the walls of the church), but when I began to crave this Word. The same thing will happen for you. If you're hopeless today, I think the best action step you could put in place tomorrow is to feast on this Word. As you do, you will find your discouraged heart starting to beat and lift up off the ground again. What a gift that we hold this in our hands.

Back to Jeremiah. We said earlier that he is the Weeping Prophet. In Lamentations 3, he's in a tough spot. In the first 17 verses, he says things like this. Verse 1: "I am a man who has seen affliction." Verse 5: "Besieged and surrounded with bitterness and hardship." Verse 16 (this one really makes the hair on my neck stand up): "He has ground my teeth like gravel. He has robbed me of peace, and I have forgotten what prosperity is." This guy is in a tough spot. It is bleak. It looks hopeless.

Look at what he does next in verses 21-24. He says, "In the middle of all the fog, in the middle of all the bleakness, in the middle of the hardship and difficulties, where my teeth feel like they've been ground into gravel because life has kicked me so hard…" He says, "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope…" My man has ground teeth like gravel, and he still has hope.

What does he call to mind? He said, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.'" What a powerful picture. Suffering can only steal from you false or vain hopes. It cannot take from you true and eternal hope.

In fact, in my own life, if I can be honest, when suffering and circumstances I didn't want came into my life, it only galvanized the hope I have in Christ, because I know one day he's coming, and one day he's going to make all of this right. So, as we look to him as the source of hope, we sink our roots deep down into the soil of the love of God, and he supplies us with hope. He is the source, and he is the supplier.

3. God's hope not only endures; it abounds. The text gets crazier. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [or as you trust in him], so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound [or overflow] in hope." This word is translated in the NIV as overflow or in the ESV as abound. It is the word perisseuo, and it's a pretty awesome word. It's the same word used in the accounts of the feeding of the 5,000, like in Matthew 14.

You know the story. The little boy brings his Hebrew Lunchable, two fish and five loaves of bread. Jesus prays, multiplies it, and feeds… We oftentimes think just 5,000, but that's just the men. It doesn't include women and children. It's at least 15,000, probably more than that. He feeds them all. Then, look at what it says in Matthew 14:20. "They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over."

He takes a Lunchable and feeds 15,000 people. The disciples are walking around. Everybody has stuff. They can't eat any more. It says they walk around and pick up 12 baskets that were perisseuo. They were left over. They were a ridiculous amount. They were too much. They were hard to comprehend. Too many. They were overflowing. They abounded with food. That's the picture. That's what this word means. It's extra. It's abundant. It's overflowing. That's the kind of hope we, as the people of God, have access to.

I would guess you've probably seen that at some point in your life. Have you ever seen somebody or do you have a friend or a parent or a grandmother who overflowed constantly with hope? I have a friend named Maya Handler. This is a picture of her here. When I was a student pastor of our church, Maya was 14 years old, and she was diagnosed with a very rare, aggressive, and terrible form of cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma. It was awful. Things accelerated seemingly overnight.

I can remember so many times… I was a young student pastor. I still don't know what I'm doing, but I really didn't know what I was doing then. I can remember pulling into the parking deck at Children's Healthcare, the cancer hospital in Atlanta. I remember sitting in the parking deck. I would have my Bible open in my lap, tears just dripping onto pages, and I would plead with God. I would say, "God, give me something. Give me a verse. Give me a prayer. Give me something that I can walk into this room and encourage this 14-year-old girl with. Just give me something."

At some point, I'd close my Bible, and I'd get out of the car. I'd make it up to the cancer floor at this hospital, and I'd walk down the long, cold hallway into Maya's room, and not one time… It never failed. I would walk into her room, and immediately, when the door opened, she would say, "Grant, you're never going to believe what I read today. You're never going to believe this new song I heard."

Then she would take out her Bible, and she'd have 50 different colors circling stuff in her Bible. She was so eager to tell me about how good God was. I remember thinking in my head, honestly… I remember this. I was like, "Man, maybe she doesn't know how bad it is. Maybe her parents just didn't tell her, or maybe she's too young to really comprehend that she has days or weeks left."

Every time I walked in… I mean, ear to ear. She lost her hair and her smile got bigger. She got to a point where she couldn't stand up to walk to the restroom anymore, and the joy became more and more loud out of her room. She would have to do these MRI scans of her head, and they would put her in this thing, and they would ask her what music she wanted to play. She would want to play worship music, and she would insist that they turn it up as loud as it could go. You'd be outside in the hallway, and you'd hear worship music going.

I can remember thinking… Walking into her room, I'd be like, "I'm supposed to be here encouraging you. I'm not good at my job. I'm supposed to be in here encouraging you. I'm supposed to be transferring hope to you." And every single time, I never even got a word in. At first I thought, "Maybe she just doesn't understand it."

I remember when it clicked for me. I went, "Oh, no. I get it. She has tapped into the God of hope who has filled her with all joy and peace in believing as she trusts in him," so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, even in a cancer ward, she could overflow with hope. This is the picture for us. Life is hard, but God is good, and we have a hope that transcends this world.

Maya went home to be with Jesus, and I can remember people saying to me… They didn't mean anything by it, but I can remember people saying to me, "I'm so sorry it didn't work out for her" or "I'm so sorry that what we prayed for didn't really…" I wanted to say back to everybody, lovingly, "She got exactly what she was hoping for." Not only did her hope not disappoint; her hope paled in comparison when she met the one she loved most face to face and went to a place cancer can't go. She didn't get her hopes up to be disappointed. Her hope will last and echo for eternity.

I don't know what you're up against in life right now. I don't know why your soul feels like it's just bottoming out right now. I don't know what circumstances, I don't know what hardships, I don't know what difficulty you're facing. I don't know what kind of discouragement you're up against. I don't know what's causing you to think, "Maybe I should just cash all this in." I don't know what lies the Enemy is whispering over you.

I don't know what's causing you to feel hopeless, but I came here tonight to say there is a person. You can put your trust in him, and as you put your trust in him, you will get a hope that is gritty and durable and dependable and will last for all of eternity. Even in the most difficult days of life, you can worship your way through. You can overflow with hope. So, for the people in the room today, if you're alive in Jesus, if you belong to the King, I came on the authority of God's Word today to tell you, "You should get your hopes up."