Free Get Your Hopes Up!: Expect Something Good to Happen to You Every Day by Joyce Meyer

by little, one day at a time, God is changing you. You can live differently than you used to because you’re an overcomer. Believe these truths. Go ahead and get your hopes up!

SECTION II
HOPE WHEN YOU’RE HURTING

    [Now] we have this [hope] as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul…
    Hebrews 6:19
    We need hope all the time, but especially when we are hurting. Hope seems more elusive when we are in the midst of difficulty or personal pain of any kind. However, it is vital not to use “I’m going through tough times” as an excuse to be discouraged, depressed, and hopeless.
    Although it is more difficult, it is also more important than ever to be hopeful during times of struggle. God wants to bring us through, not see us get stuck in the pain.
    When loss comes, let’s deal with the loss and, in the process, not lose ourselves. When tragedy comes, let’s grieve properly and not give way to the spirit of grief that will turn our entire life into a tragedy. When we are disappointed, let’s get reappointed. When we are depressed, let’s look up because we will all feel better if we hold our heads up high!
    Everything about Jesus is up! He came from Heaven, He returned to Heaven when His work here was done, and we are promised thatHe will come again in the clouds and every eye will see Him. He lifts our heads, our spirits, and our lives. On the other hand, we do have an enemy called Lucifer, Satan, the great deceiver, or the devil, and everything he offers is something down. He offers depression, discouragement, dejection, disease, despair, despondency, divorce, death, et cetera.
    I am declaring war on hopelessness, and I am asking you to join me in the fight against it. Each one of us who makes a commitment to spreading hope everywhere we go will become part of the answer the world needs.

CHAPTER 6
Look Up
    I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth
.
    Psalm 121:1–2 (NKJV)
    Hope is the thing with feathers
    That perches in the soul
    And sings the tune without the words
    And never stops at all
.
    —Emily Dickinson
    One of the things I like to do when I have rest time is watch movies. Dave and I spend so much time traveling that when I get home, I look forward to sitting back in my recliner with my dog in my lap and enjoying a couple of hours relaxing in front of an entertaining movie. You’re probably the same way—there’s just something enjoyable about a watching a really good movie.
    No matter what kind of movies you like to watch (I like the classics or a good mystery), we’ve all witnessed the same scene. It’s a Hollywood favorite that finds its way into action movies, adventure movies, crime thrillers, war movies, and even romantic comedies. I’m talking about the “fear of heights” scene. You’ve seen it, right? The settings are different but the dilemma is the same—HEIGHTS! The main character is standing on tiptoe out on a narrow ledge, or hesitantly crossing a rickety bridge, or nervously climbing a citytower. Disaster seems unavoidable. In each of these scenes, our hero is ridiculously high up, the wind is blowing, his foot slips once or twice, the music swells… and I’m so nervous I can barely watch!
    If you’ve seen this scene played out as many times as I have, you know there is a classic line that someone seems to always proclaim in this situation. Right as the character, or characters, are walking across the narrowest part of the ledge, traversing the shakiest section of the bridge, or climbing the most dangerous face of the mountain, someone says these words: “Whatever you do, don’t look down!” Seems like good advice, doesn’t it? Just stay focused, look at where you’re going, keep moving, and
don’t look down
. But for some reason, our favorite movie characters rarely listen. It’s pretty predictable. The first thing they do is look down, and the result is always the same: panic.
    Maybe you can