Life is about routine, isn’t it?
If you don’t think that’s true, then just try and change things up in a small way today. Instead of washing your hair first when you get in the shower, wait until the end. Try sleeping on the left side of the bed instead of the right. Or, brush your upper teeth before your lowers instead of the other way around. Feels weird, doesn’t it? That’s the routine.
Sometimes routine is comforting. It feels good to know what’s coming and to have a sense of normalcy in everyday life. But sometimes you need to shake things up, if only for a few minutes, because even though the routine can be comforting, it can also be very, very boring.
Perhaps there’s something good in the boring routine of life as well. Maybe the boring parts of life can actually help us stay hopeful in life. The mundane, everyday rhythm can actually help us sharpen our hope.
Stay Hopeful by Sharpening What’s Dull
If you use a knife long enough, it’s going to become dull. You probably have some kind of sharpening tool in a drawer in your kitchen. That is a tool specifically made for that purpose - to sharpen knives.
But for hundreds of years, people have not used fancy sharpening tools but instead used ordinary, flat stones to do the work. It takes a lot longer to do it that way, but a knife can be sharpened by the smooth dullness of a rock with enough time and effort.
The same thing is true with our hope. By reading Bible verses about hope in hard times, we can sharpen our hope and ignite faith in our hearts. Bible verses about staying positive not only give us a boost of hope, but they also renew our minds with the character of what God is like! Just like that knife in your kitchen drawer, hope has a way of becoming dull despite the fact that “hope” ought to be one of the hallmarks of the Christian.
Keep reading to learn about staying positive with Bible verses and how to remain hopeful with Bible verses about hope in hard times:
Bible Verses for Hope
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. - Psalm 31:24
This Bible verse for hope encourages you to have hopeful faith in God, who is always good! Take heart is a saying that means don’t be afraid, or have courage. There are moments in your life when you will need to stay hopeful by being strong and unafraid, but don’t worry: God is always with you. The roadmap on how to remain hopeful is not doing it all on your own, it’s leaning on God instead.
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. - Psalm 42:5
This Bible verse on how to stay hopeful comes from Psalm 42. In this Psalm, David is confessing his need for God and his frustration with God. Hopeful faith is honest faith. It’s hard to receive the hope of God before you recognize that you’re feeling hopeless. There is no shame in feeling hopeless or feeling low. Remaining hopeful in difficult times comes when you are honest with how you’re feeling, casting your burdens on the Lord, and receiving God’s hope in return.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. - Romans 12:12
This Bible verse on how to remain hopeful encourages Christians to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. While life isn’t always rainbows and roses, God is always ready to help us. It even says in the Bible that Jesus intercedes for us!
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. - Romans 8:34
This Bible verse for remaining hopeful in difficult times is a breath of fresh air if you’re feeling heavy. Jesus is always interceding for you! Interceding is just a big word for praying, intervening, or standing in the gap on your behalf. Take heart, stay hopeful, and remember that Jesus is always praying for you.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13
Bible verses that encourage us about remaining hopeful in difficult times are anchored in God’s love. Remembering our faith, staying anchored in hope, and sharing God’s love are great ways to stay hopeful no matter what.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11
This Bible verse on how to remain hopeful is coming directly from God. One of the easiest ways to remain hopeful in difficult times is to renew our minds with what God says about us. The hopeful faith that God offers in Jeremiah 29:11 is full of promises of prosperity, protection, and a future that is hopeful. Pray this Bible verse for staying hopeful anytime you need a hope boost!
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. - Hebrews 11:1
Bible verses on hopeful faith are a great way to remain hopeful in difficult times. Faith is the confidence in what we hope for. Learn more about how to have hopeful faith no matter what: How to Have Faith in the Fire
Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. - Isaiah 40:31
This Bible verse about remaining hopeful in difficult times reminds us that our hope is not in ourselves; our hope is in God. As you hope in the Lord, who never fails, your strength will be renewed. God gives strength to the weary and hope to the hopeless. No matter what you’re facing, God promises to renew your strength.
Related Post: 20 Bible Verses About Thankfulness
Staying Hopeful in Difficult Times and Good Times
Christian hope is a different kind of hope. The hope we have is much more than a pie-in-the-sky kind of optimism; it is sure and certain because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s this hope, based on what Jesus has done and where He is leading us, that drips into everything we do, think, and believe. And yet even that hope becomes dull sometimes.
Sometimes hope becomes dull because of our circumstances. Bad things happen, and sometimes they’re so bad it seems like there is very little light at the end of a long tunnel.
Any time we find ourselves in circumstances that threaten our dreams, security, or future, it’s hard to stay hopeful.
Ironically, though, true hope is not only dulled by difficulty; it is dulled by prosperity. It’s not only dulled when things are bad; it’s dulled when things are good. If the money’s good, health is good, job is good, and family is good… then what do we need to hope for? We already have everything we want!
Like a knife in the drawer, our hope can get so dulled that it no longer cuts through the temporary pleasures or the temporary sufferings the world brings us.
So, how do we sharpen that knife?
How to Remain Hopeful in Life
As you’re learning how to stay hopeful, the power of routine can be a helpful tool for remaining hopeful during difficult times. This is where the boring parts of routine come in. As you walk through the mundane parts of your day, it can be a reminder that there is actually something more. Something better.
As you do the dishes, you can pray for God to give you hopeful faith. As you brush your teeth, you can thank God for running water. As you go for a walk, you can ask God to give you strength and ideas for how to remain hopeful. Even while you’re cooking dinner, you can stay hopeful and create hopeful faith by thanking God for the food you’re about to eat.
By actively practicing thanksgiving and choosing gratitude, you will grow a habit that helps you stay hopeful. Slowly, over time, God will sharpen your heart and mind to look more clearly toward Jesus, His great love for you, and His promises for your future.
Let’s be careful to make sure the right kind of hope is being sharpened. Let’s make sure that ultimately, what’s being sharpened is not just our desire to sit in a restaurant or go to a concert or hang out with friends.
These are good things, but they aren’t the best thing. The strategy for how to remain hopeful goes beyond a to-do list; it strengthens your relationship with God and helps you stay hopeful by connecting with Hope itself!
Practical Ways to Stay Hopeful in Difficult Times
Staying positive in difficult times takes resolve. It is not easy to stay hopeful when life gets hard and you don’t see a resolution. However, there are a few practical ways to stay positive during difficult times.
Practice Gratitude
It may seem simplistic or perhaps dismissive of your troubles to find something to be thankful for. But, remembering things we are grateful for is a way to stay positive during difficult moments.
Remember God’s Promises
The Bible is full of promises of God’s faithfulness, strength, and comfort. Spend time meditating on these promises to help you stay hopeful.
Conclusion
There is no secret answer for how to get through hard times - the only way is through. However, there has never been a storm that stayed. Jesus sometimes silences storms, and He promises to always be with us in the midst of them.
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