“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 15:13)
Jesus told us that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. Mountains represent intractable problems; impossible situations; people who give every appearance that they will not budge and cannot change. In the face of such we are prone to despair. “What the use?” we say, “It is what it is.”
But who has told us to throw in the towel? Who has told us it’s a lost cause? If God, then we move on. But how often would God work a miracle if we don’t doubt and despair. David prayed for his stricken child until God’s verdict was final. He knew the power of prayer. “And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?” (2 Sam. 12:22) Prayer fuels hope.
There is a time to resign ourselves to the will of God – to accept a situation and find God’s strength to deal with it. But there are other times when God wants us not to faint in prayer; to stay open for a miracle; to not abandon hope; even to believe that He can use us to effect change. He is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Eph. 3:20).
Beware of fatalism. Pessimism should not be our default mindset. More often than not, we are called to a godly optimism. Give the God of hope every opportunity to work. He may make a believer out of you.