7 Days of Hope: Day 7!

Welcome to one of the last stops on the 7 Days of Hope Blog Tour! I hope you've enjoyed this tour and that it's been an encouragement to you. <3 

Hebrews 10:23 (NLT) says, "Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise."

When I was trying to find a verse and a translation to use for today, I came across something interesting - some versions used the word "hope" here, as the NLT does. And some didn't. So, curious, I traced it back to the Greek using the built-in Strong's Concordance in one of my Bible apps.

The word used here for "hope" is "elpis" (pronounced, "elle-PEACE"). It doesn't mean just, plainly, "hope" or "faith," as it's translated. One definition is, more directly, "hope." But the word, in two of three definitions and by its root word, means "expectation." Oddly enough, the word itself doesn't even say if the expectation is good or bad.

It's just that we expect something.

That's what "hope" really is, isn't it? It's not just that we believe something good could come out of a situation. It's not just that we believe things could get better.

It's that we expect it.

We expect that God will keep His promise, that He will bring good out of our difficult situations, that He will see us over the mountains we climb.

And it's the expectation, the hope, that lets us stare at our mountains and smile.

Good God Almighty

I hope You'll find me

Praising Your name no matter what comes

'Cause I know where I'd be without Your mercy

So I keep praising Your name at the top of my lungs

This song is, honestly, fun. But it's deeper than that. It's full of the hope and expectation that, no matter where we are right now, God is going to pull us through. And that's why we're still praising Him, even when we feel hopeless. Because we know, deep down, that we're never hopeless.

Giveaway

Links to Other Blogs on the Tour

(April 5) Day 1, Monday:

        SawyerMarie https://sundropgirls.wordpress.com/

Clarissa Choo https://clarissachoo.com

(April 6) Day 2, Tuesday:

        Hannah K https://mylifegodspath.wordpress.com/

        Lilly W https://adaughterservingtheking.wordpress.com/blog/

(April 7) Day 3, Wednesday:

        Katja https://littleblossomsforjesus.wordpress.com/

        B https://singingintherain157252239.wordpress.com/ 

(April 8) Day 4, Thursday: 

        Brooklyn http://fiveshekels.wordpress.com/ 

        Abigail Harris https://abigailkayharris.wordpress.com/

(April 9) Day 5, Friday:

        Anna Grace https://ideasofanna.blogspot.com/

        Lauren Compton http://novelsthatencourage.com.au/ 

(April 10) Day 6, Saturday:

         Tara https://towerintheplains.wordpress.com/

Chelsea Burden https://lightinthetunnel476000978.wordpress.com/ 

(April 11) Day 7, Sunday:

        Abby Elissa HERE!

        Jenavieve Rose https://livingoutsidethelinesfindingthewritelife.wordpress.com/

What verses remind you of hope? Have you been encouraged by the tour?