The same can be said, really, for most any loss in life: loss of a job, loss of a relationship. Whatever life happens to throw our way, we somehow manage to move on, because that’s the nature of our existence. We bounce back. We continue. We press on.

But loss of hope is different.

It is incredibly deceptive. It is powerfully debilitating. It paints a bleak picture of the future, and it brings the present to a virtual standstill.

But hopelessness is false. While it places itself within the fortified walls of our thoughts and actions, this stronghold is not infallible. It can be torn down with the truth of God’s Word.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. 18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

The truth is that regardless of our circumstances, regardless of our lot in life, regardless of the things that happen all around us -- our worries, our fears, our heartbreaks, our disappointments, our hurts, and our failures -- despite all of these things, there is hope in Christ! As we experience these momentary afflictions, Christ is building in us an eternal glory that is created by and based in Him. He is our strength. He is our hope! Christ is the hope of glory! (1 Corinthians 1:27)