Hope

"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us." Romans 5:1-5
 
So lately, I've been thinking a lot about hope.  Hope seems almost like this "out there" thing for a lot of us.  What does it actually MEAN to have hope?  Can the hope of which Paul was speaking spread to all our lives or "just" our faith life?

Honestly, hope is something I wrestle with.  I TRY to be hopeful, and for some things, I AM very hopeful.  I AM hopeful that God walks with us in all our situations.  I AM hopeful that I am a forgiven child of God.

But sometimes, life throws things at people, where hope DOES seem to disappoint.  You get ramped up and hopeful about something and then BAM!  It falls through.

So, what do we do when hope disappoints us?

I don't really know the answer to that question.  What I DO know is that God's love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, regardless of where we fall on the hope spectrum.  And I pray for endurance for when hope falls away.

So, does HOPE ever disappoint you?
What do you do when it does?