Getting My Hopes Up

Thoughts on choosing hope in seasons of waiting

The other day, I was talking with a friend about something she was waiting for in her life. After describing the situation, she sighed and said, “I’m just not getting my hopes up.”

How many times have you or I said that exact phrase or something similar?

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“I don’t want to be naive.”

“I’m not setting myself up to be disappointed.”

Beneath these common phrases lies a kind of self-protective armor. If we don’t hope, we think we can shield ourselves from hurt, disappointment, or grief.

Hope feels vulnerable, especially during a season of waiting like my friend and I have both experienced. Cynicism and self-protection often feel easier, especially when you’ve faced the pain of unanswered prayer or feel stuck in a cycle of expectation and disappointment.

I’m sure every reader of this newsletter could share a painful story of hoping for something that never materialized. I certainly don’t want to minimize or gloss over the importance of processing the painful emotions those seasons can bring.

Still, I can’t stop thinking about hope.

A verse I’ve been finding a lot of encouragement in lately is Psalm 27:14:

“Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.”

After a little research, I found out that the Hebrew word for “wait” in this verse can also be translated as “hope.”

Waiting on the Lord is a hopeful, expectant posture. It isn’t passive or easy—it requires the person waiting to “be strong” and “take heart” with courage.

So often, I think our culture paints hope as a naive, childish response to reality. We’ve seen too much and been hurt too many times, so the world tells us to hedge our hope with self-protection and cynicism.

But the Bible doesn’t instruct us to hope naively or vaguely. It tells us specifically to hope in the Lord with courage and expectation. The author of Hebrews describes hope as “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Heb 6:19), while Isaiah says that those who “hope in the Lord will renew their strength” (Isa 40:31). Throughout the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly instructs his listeners to “take heart” and trust in him with confident hope.

Modern psychologists categorize hope as a mindset or cognitive process rather than a primary emotion. So while we can certainly feel hopeful, it’s interesting that science seems to confirm what the Bible also describes: hope is a choice and an active state of being.

Maybe some of us are naturally hopeful people who easily experience life from a place of confident trust and ease. I’d love to grow into that kind of person, but in my experience, I think being hopeful is less of a personality trait and more of a daily decision—one that depends on what (and who) we place our hope in.

So as contradictory as it seems, we can be in a season of waiting and still be intensely active in our choice to hope.

We can get our hopes up in the Lord, knowing he is faithful and trustworthy, no matter the outcome.

We can “take heart” with courageous hope, even when doing so seems naive or foolish to the world around us.

In college, I came across these lines from an Emily Dickinson poem:

“‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—”

Isn’t that a beautiful image?

What would it be like to have hope like a songbird in our souls, singing and worshipping, even when we don’t know what the future holds?

That kind of posture is only possible when we trust in the One who created us to hope, not vaguely or in things that won’t last, but actively and confidently in him.

If it feels a little daunting to wake up tomorrow and start choosing hope, an easy practice that’s been helping me lately is saying out loud the three postures from Psalm 27: “Be strong,” “Take heart,” and “Wait for the Lord.” They’re easy to memorize and simple declarations to repeat throughout my day, reminding me of the hopeful position I can choose to live from every day.

Additionally, if you’re struggling to hope, I wouldn’t underestimate the power of praying and bringing those feelings honestly to God. He has the power to increase our capacity to hope, especially in seasons when it feels impossible.

How do you cultivate hope? Does it feel easy or challenging for you to hope on a daily basis? I’d love to hear from you!

Recommendations of things I’ve enjoyed reading, watching, or listening to lately!

📚 How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People by Pete Greig - I picked up this companion to How to Pray after finishing it recently, and I’ve really enjoyed both of these “simple guides for normal people.” Pete Greig has a gift for taking what could be complex, esoteric ideas about prayer and making them accessible and practical. Both books are great resources, whether you’re a lifelong Jesus follower or newer to your faith.

💻 STEP Bible - For any of my fellow word nerds 🤓, this is an amazing free resource. STEP (“Scripture Tools for Every Person”) is a Bible study website that allows you to search any scripture and then dig deeply into specific words or phrases. I used it while researching Psalm 27 by clicking on “wait” and exploring how the word is defined and used throughout Scripture. I find that kind of study really fun, so if you do too and haven’t used this tool before, definitely check it out!