Hope is called the anchor of our soul, the protector of our mind. Hope is so important in our daily life and overcoming the storms that we all face. Everyone that has committed suicide first lost all hope. Hopelessness is a very dark place to be. The South Carolina motto here is "While I breathe, I hope."

I want to start in Hebrews chapter 6:

(Hebrews 6:11-12 NKJV)  And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

(Hebrews 6:13-20 NKJV)  For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

I am going to greatly oversimplify this and say that it means that God never lies. He is unchanging, and that means if we continue on in faith and patience as the others have before us, then we will see His promises come to pass in our life just as they did.

God made a promise to Abraham that he would have a son one day. Years passed by and Abraham waited patiently. He endured whatever came and when he was ninety-nine years old, his wife Sarah became pregnant. She gave birth to a son named Isaac, which means "Laughter." Because when God told Abraham that he would have a son from his ninety-year-old wife Sarah who was barren, it was such a far out idea that she began laughing. That is so beautiful and simple: God promised. Abraham believed, then Abraham received.

Consider Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue who came to Jesus and begged him to come heal his daughter. While they were walking to his house, someone brought them word to not bother coming, for she had already died. Jesus told Jairus, "Don't be afraid, only believe, and she will be made well" (Luke 8:49). That word was to give Jairus hope, and soon she was made well.

Anchors are tied to a boat or a ship and then tossed into the water to hold it steady, especially in a storm. They can keep a boat from drifting too far away, though they can drift around it in a circle, unless you use one on each end. I grew up around the Waccamaw river which was just a few miles from our house, and I spent a lot of time with boats. Sometimes we would anchor the boat and go swimming. If you didn't anchor it properly, it wouldn't be there when you came back. It would drift away while you weren't paying attention.

Hope is the anchor of our soul. It keeps us from drifting too far away and into dark places. It is like putting our soul on a leash and saying that you will only move so far. I will only get so depressed, only so far. This will not sweep me away. You will only cry about something so long, then you are going to reel it back in.

As humans, we are a three part being. We live eternally as a spirit, we have a soul, and those live in a physical body. Our soul is described as our mind, will, and emotions. Our soul can often be our worst enemy. It's the part of you that cries out, "Why me?" when things go wrong. Your soul will be tossed to and fro by the storms of life. However, when you are anchored in God and His Word, your soul can find a place of stability even in the worst of situations.

However, we are not to be led by our soul, (flesh: mind, will, and emotions), but by the Spirit: 

(Matthew 4:1 NKJV)  Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

(Romans 8:14 NKJV)  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

(Galatians 5:16-18 NKJV)  I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Hope protects our mind and is a powerful force in our life. It can change your outlook from negative to positive, and when your attitude about something changes, so will your circumstances. The Apostle Paul wrote this: 

(1 Thessalonians 5:8 NKJV) "But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation."

Like a set of armor, faith and love protect our heart, while it is hope that protects our mind. It is like armor against the attacks of the enemy. The enemy knows that a hopeless person, is a weak person and easy prey. When things get tough, they have nothing left to keep them going. There is no endurance. The enemy will often attack our mind first and once he has a foothold, use us to destroy our own life around us with negativity.

The helmet of hope, the belief that God loves us, that something good will come out of this yet, keeps us from spiraling downward when things get bad. Like plowing a field with a horse, if we can keep the horses head pointed in the right direction, the rest of it will follow. You must learn to guard your thought life. The Apostle Paul wrote:

(1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV) "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

Paul was not saying that Faith and Hope are less important than Love. Each one is different and one cannot take the place of another. Love cannot take the place of hope, nor faith. Each one of the three are important to us and we should understand them.

For example, we cannot receive the rewards of faith by using hope or love. Hope looks to the future. It is always future tense. Faith is now. Faith says, "I'll receive the answer right now. I have it now." In this case, it is not hoping that gets the job done, it is believing in faith. Our salvation comes to us through faith, not hope. We do not "hope we are saved" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

We don't receive things through praying in hope. Jesus told us this:

(Mark 11:24 NKJV) "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."

That is not hoping, though many times we will go from hopelessness, to hope, and then on to faith. Hope is beautiful, and it has its own place in our life. We have hope that the Lord Jesus Christ will soon return. That the righteous dead will be resurrected. We will see loved ones who have passed on once again, and that heaven awaits us. Hope tells us that God still has a plan for us. There is something good still coming. That this will work out for my good. God isn't done with me yet. It is hope that helps us hang on another day.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help me see beyond the circumstances and see what You have for me instead. I don't understand many things, but I trust You to take care of me. I am Yours, LORD. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen!