It comes as a silent whisper and as a loud scream. At times it is elusive, vaporous, and missing. The busyness of life will drown it out and the grind of life will crowd it out. Life is significantly less without it. If we lose it completely, we run the risk of the greatest loss of all.

Can you hear the whisper of HOPE in your heart?

What is it that you hope for? What hope do you have for the world? Where is it that you have decided to place your hope? Questions that are essential and often overlooked. If you are anything like me, you forgo hope for practical reasons: bills have to be paid, responsibilities, relationships, fatigue, distractions, discouragement, disappointments, and the list goes on. It seems we sometimes buy into survival and simply forget what we are surviving for.

As leaders, our ability to keep hope alive and hope in front of those we lead is essential. Spending time with various teams, couples, individuals, I am finding that leaders must cultivate communities of hope. Fostering hope means we foster relationships that allow us to move towards the hearts of those we lead. At times I feel our culture tries to create cultures that champion the adage, "It's not personal." or "Don't take it personal." The reality of our human existence is that it is personal, and it's intended to be personal. Hope holds the heart of man in the beauty of purpose and opportunity.

Hope illuminates the dreams and desires of our life.

Thinking both personally and for those you lead, consider the following tips for cultivating cultures of hope.

1. Create quiet space in your weekly rhythms to listen for your own dreams and desires
    
2. Cultivate the habit of seeing beauty and value in others
    
3. Connect to others who will dream with you

My personal journey of hope has led me away from a performance-driven approach, led me away from moments and circumstances that come and go. I am finding I need hope that's bigger than my successes and truer than my failures. I long for a hope that is eternal and everlasting. If you are looking for hope that will walk with you through every season of life, I would encourage you to look to Jesus. My faith in Jesus is illuminating a loving grace that fills me with tangible hope. Jesus, the suffering servant, offers hope for the hurting. I am finding the incredible beauty in a God who loves humanity so perfectly that he came and walked among us so that we would know He pursues us with hope!

What hope do you have for the world?

My hope is in the One who laid His life down so that we might live. My hope is in Jesus.