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Why Hope Is the Super-Fuel You Need

Everybody got divorced. We cannot find a lasting marriage in 150 years of the family tree.

Add to that my family’s raging alcoholism and explosive anger, and maybe you can see why divorce was epidemic and how I grew up convinced that my life probably wouldn’t feature a lasting marriage.

At no time did I ever think, I can have a fulfilling family life.

That belief got a major makeover after a bunch of terrific couples put their arms around me in an awesome Southern California church of 110 people. For the first time in my life, I saw couples that had been married for 10, 15, 20 and even 30 or more years.

During five years in that church, I never saw a single couple break up. That totally changed my frame of reference. For the first time, I thought, Wow! I could really have a lasting marriage. That could be my future.

My wife, Carol, and I just celebrated our 30th anniversary, which now means I am in the longest-lasting marriage in the history of my family. 

2. Hope motivates. Hope helps you bounce back (when you need it most).

What is the difference between people who thrive and people who decline over a long period of time? It’s not that they don’t get knocked down; it’s that they bounce back up.

Check out this list and see if you can find yourself:

Joseph endured mistreatment from a dysfunctional family. I bet there isn’t anyone who doesn’t have some relative they try not to sit next to at Christmas dinner.

David bounced back from several devastating failures: moral, leadership, career and so on. Have any past failures? A great comeback is possible!

Elijah suffered personal criticism. I speak to over 12,000 people every weekend and thousands more by radio. Usually, some people each week write in or come up to say something encouraging. I remember none of that. But I can tell you every critical comment. Why do we remember the things we ought to forget and forget the things we ought to remember?

Every person in the Bible had to bounce back from something (Lazarus even had to come back from being dead)!

In almost every case, whether somebody bounces back or not, it has to do with one question: “Does that person have hope?”