I recently heard the phrase “don’t get your hopes up” and I couldn’t help but wonder…
Should we really live life never getting our hopes up? Are we merely trying to protect ourselves from pain or disappointment?
Is it better to never get your hopes up? Or to allow yourself to hope, because in doing so you learn to trust God beyond circumstances…and perhaps in the midst of disappointment and pain.
Should we hope for things? Should we hope in the potiential for things?
Like if I was really excited about a job, should I hope that my interview would land me the job? Or should I tell myself I definitely didn’t get the job, so that I’m not disappointed if it doesn’t work out? But if it does…I’m suddenly pleasantly surprised.
Is there danger is never hoping for the things that, below the surface, you really do hope for?
I’ve always set my hopes realistically low, not pessimistically low, but set in a way that the hope is only nurtured by prayer and not obsession, and it’s served me quite well.
I try not to ever not hope in God, which would be doubt, but things that aren’t guaranteed I just try not to get all caught up in it in the event that I’m just gonna be left hanging… I might be one-of-a-kind though in this regard because I almost go into denial to deal with hardships that are too much for me to bear in order to deal with them, so one can see why I might approach life in this way.
This topic needs to be seasoned with Scripture…
Psalm 42:11 – “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
Psalm 62:5 – “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.”
Romans 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 5:5 – “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
1 Timothy 1:1 – “…Christ Jesus [is] our hope…”
Thanks for adding verses to the topic Greg, and thanks for your input.