Learning to Recognize Hope
A devotional for Wednesday
Hope isn’t just a feeling; it’s a relationship. The sermon reminded us that many of us have allowed darkness a seat at our table, yet we struggle to recognize hope when it knocks. Pastor Kristie’s call to notice who we’re inviting to our tables asks us to look honestly at the voices shaping us. Hope looks unfamiliar when we haven’t spent enough time with the God who gives it. Like the giraffe illustration, sometimes hope is right in front of us, but we don’t recognize it because we’ve trained our eyes on something else. If we want hope to have weight in our lives, we must learn the shape of God’s heart.
“I will wait for the Lord… I will put my hope in him.”
Isaiah 8:17
Isaiah understood that hope grows through intentional time spent looking toward God instead of looking around at circumstances. To wait for the Lord is not passive resignation—it’s active trust. It’s choosing to turn down the noise of fear and turn toward the One whose character does not shift with our emotions. When we put our hope in Him, we begin to recognize His fingerprints in places we once thought were empty. Slowly, we learn to differentiate between the voice of despair and the whisper of God’s steady presence. Hope becomes not just what we long for, but who we belong to.
Question/Challenge
Where in your life have you been listening to the wrong voice, and how can you intentionally give God a louder seat at your table this week?