Dark Defying Hope in Five Steps

We have to build dark defying hope if we are going to make it through this journey. The world is exploding with despair, destruction, discouragement, and defeat. If you haven’t heard any or read any today, keep your eyes closed. That’s the only way to avoid it completely.

Countering the bombardment requires the right shield – the Shield of Faith which is coated in a hardy dose of hope. Day after day, moment after moment, and engagement after engagement, be invested in growing hope.

#QuoteoftheDay

The only cure
for the darkness
is light.
– Kathryn Lang

You Become What You Hang Around

My younger brother married a Canadian, and the wedding was naturally held in Canada. My husband and I drove to the wedding from Alabama, planning stops along the way and extending the stay to enjoy the sites around the community where the bride grew up.

This would be a good time to tell you that my husband has always been a natural at mimicking voices and accents. It’s almost uncanny.

It’s only natural that after spending a week engrossed in the Canadian accent of the area, my husband began to sound the same. It was cute for the first couple of hours driving back to Alabama. But by West Virginia, either the accent or the exhausted six-month-old caused me to threaten the very existence of my husband.

We pick up what we hang around. In the case of my husband, it was an accent that didn’t fit with his nature – which is why it was annoying and not because I find accents annoying. I find them endearing on others (and not in a 400-hour car ride).

PRO TIP: When making travel plans, don’t choose the route just to be able to say we went through the states. There were NO places to stop and go adventuring and burn up energy on the route home (which might have added to my frustrations).

When we choose to hang around the negatives – i.e. leave the news on in the background 24/7, meet up with folks covered in PLOM disease, or repeat our problems to the point of exhaustion for us (and everyone around us) – we will feed the darkness.

Feeding the Light

It doesn’t matter how dark it is. There is one thing that will ALWAYS break the darkness . . . LIGHT. Even a small spark will make a big difference in the darkest night.

After the tornado crushed our home in 2020, a quick call to 911 and a few neighbors told us we were going to have to make our way to safety. The number of trees down prevented rescue workers from getting to us.

We lived out in the woods, so we were used to darkness. But in the aftermath of the storm, with clouds still covering the sky, it was as dark as I had ever seen – or not seen, since we were in the dark.

We had charged our big flashlight and used it to see ahead of us. We made our way over trees and around power lines down to the driveway, only to find the road covered by the stream. Now we faced a tougher hike through even more downed trees and unknown obstacles.

Our great light took that moment to die.

We would have been left in the dark to feel our way to safety had it not been for a small battery-operated torch I had purchased for one of the many scouting trips our boys went on. It was no high-powered flashlight, but in the completeness of that dark night, its little light made a big impact.

We don’t have to be a big light to make a big difference. This little light of mine, when I let it shine, it shines all over everything it encounters.

That light is fueled by hope. If you want to douse the darkness with light then you have to build a fountain of dark defying hope.

Growing Dark Defying Hope

“I believe. Lord, help my unbelief.” These words from the story of the dad crying out to Jesus to help his son in Mark 9: 23 – 25. Jesus tells him that if he can believe, all things are possible for those who believe.

I feel the cry of this father to my very core.

I believe. It is that simple. I believe in Jesus Christ and in all that he did. I believe in the promises of God as shown and shared through Scripture. I believe that God has the best plans for me and that He never leaves me or forsakes me.

Yet, every morning I get up and face the reality of the world. I can see the negatives. They are tangible and overwhelming. In those moments, the hope fueling my belief point begins to falter.

I need help dealing with the unbelief bombarding my every step so that I can defeat the unbelief those encounters are attempting to root in my heart.

Ingest Hope

Make a point to get hold of some hope every single day. The more ways you can find, the better. Just like the negatives will pile up when you leave them running in the background, so will the positives (and hope will be found in and through those positives).

Speak Hope

The more I say the positives, the harder it is for me to hear the negatives. When negatives things are happening around you, begin visualizing the promises and repeat them in your head.

Share Hope

They say it only takes a spark to get a fire going. Hope is that spark in life. When you ignite hope through a smile

Tote Hope

Carry a little hope around with you when you are out and about or when you are going into a challenging situation. I wear earrings given to me by my son, or a favorite pair of shoes that make me feel bold and beautiful. Or I write out several “battle” Scriptures and read over those throughout the day.

Breathe Hope

Build us a foundation of hope so solid that standing on it is as natural as breathing. When that doesn’t work, go outside and sit down on the ground. Breathe in for a count of four and breathe out to a count of eight. Listen as you breathe – to the air going in and out of your lungs and to the sounds around you. This practice will ground you and in the grounding, you will find hope easier to grasp.

Hope makes a way, especially in those dark moments. It is the lighthouse in the storm or the tiny flashlight after the storm.

The negatives and darkness of the world can be overwhelming. They crowd out the light and tell you it will never return. Forget about the end being near, if the world has its way it will convince you the end is HERE.

But hope . . .

Hope says no to the bleak forecast being pushed by the world. Hope stands in the gap between the onslaught of murkiness and shadows and the heart determined to live in purpose. It’s hope that breaks the eclipse of the world on the life of faith.

Get so invested in hope that it defies the darkness.

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Where do you find dark defying hope?

Share some thoughts on how you have used light to rage against the dark.