Choosing hope

Guest Blog Post: Tori Martinez, Office Administrator

Hope is more than a four letter word. Hope is desiring for something to happen and trusting that it will. For families in poverty, hope is sometimes the last thing to cling to when all aspects of life seem lost and broken. 

I truly did not understand the weight of hope until I started seeing the need across the state for families experiencing homelessness. Families are hoping for a new mattress, clothing, shoes, groceries and so much more. I believe hope is a person, and that person is Jesus. He loves His people and wants a relationship with every single one of us. I also believe relationships can change the trajectory of someone’s life. When we choose to follow Christ, we are also saying yes to loving His people. Drew Davis, the CEO and founder of Every Arkansan, consistently shares that the root of poverty is the lack of relationships. This can go along with physical poverty, emotional poverty and even spiritual poverty. We are called to love God with all of our heart, but to also love our neighbor as ourselves. 

Now, I see that there is never a dead end with hope. In Matthew 17, Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” That is a pretty bold statement for any person to say; however, having even a small bit of faith can make anything possible. 

When we choose to have hope, we choose to believe in the good in the midst of negativity. We choose to believe in the strength that only Jesus can bring in the darkest seasons. We also choose to believe that there is newness that the Lord wants to bring into our lives. Whatever hard season you may find yourself in, my encouragement is to find your hope in Jesus. Believe all things are possible because of His love for us. 

“When we choose to have hope, we choose to believe in the good in the midst of negativity.”