How is your future looking right now? If what you're envisioning feels bleak, let us offer some encouragement.

Hope often flies right out the door as soon as life starts to unravel differently than we planned. Your kids drop out of college. Your spouse is distant. You haven't been promoted at work in years. When reality doesn't match the vision, what can we look forward to?

In this episode of Smart Living in Small Bites, Darlene Brock and Julie Bender unpack ways to find hope in the mundane. It may require work on your end, like cutting back in certain areas to prioritize what's needed to reach your goals. More often than not, holding on to hope simply calls for believing God's promise in Jeremiah 29:11: "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."

And if you're wondering when God will come through, take comfort in knowing it'll be in his timing—which means it has yet to happen and you already have something to hope for.

While you practice staying hopeful, meditate on this nugget of wisdom Darlene shares: "Hope doesn’t exist without deprivation, need and lack." What we're lacking now gives us a reason to look forward to our future with optimism and become better versions of ourselves along the way.
Quote of the episode:
“When you're at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on.” —Theodore Roosevelt
Resources
Related

* "Hope Feels Out of Reach—What Now?"
* "When Hope Is Your Bravest Choice"
* "5 Ways to Hold Onto Hope In Radical Uncertainty"

Mentioned

* Check out the Smart Living book series here!

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