Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Bible in a Year Reading Plan: 2 Kings 11-15 | John 17

When you stop expecting tomorrow to be any different than yesterday, hope seems impossible. 

Maybe you’ve been there - I know I have! It seems that your circumstances will never change, at least not for the better. The hole that you find yourself in, relationally, financially, physically, situationally, professionally, or otherwise, grows deeper with every passing day. 

How can you choose joy? How can you continue to hope? The risk of disappointment looms large!

For me, the past two years have been a time of transition, as I’ve thought and prayed about making a big move. I’ve lived long enough to know that a change of place doesn’t change your circumstances. 

Everywhere I go, I am. 

I knew that without the help of the Holy Spirit, moving 1,300 miles away wouldn’t bring the joy I was searching for. I have found that true joy only comes from spending time with Jesus in prayer, in community, and through reading and meditating on Scripture, regardless of where I am.  

My word for 2026 is hope, and my verses are Romans 5:3-5, which I memorized in the NIV. 

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

I knew that this year, I would need to cling to these verses because leaving the place where you’ve lived most of your life is risky. And hoping that the new place will provide a better situation is just that - hope! When I first memorized verse 5, it was in an earlier edition of the NIV which said: “And hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love for us into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us.” 

Hope does not disappoint, not because our circumstances have changed, but because God's love for us never does. That promise is worth remembering and repeating. Every day, I can look to God’s Word to find hope. I can depend on my church family for encouragement. I can find God’s loving presence in prayer and meditation. 

Hope. It never disappoints. God gives us the ability to choose it, and I do! 

Do you?

Questions: 
Where in your life are you looking for hope? 

Are you making time for God to speak into your circumstances?

Next Steps: 
Take some time to assess your current circumstances. Make a real list of where you need God’s help. Look up verses that speak into your circumstances, and make them the focus of your prayer life.

Prayer: 
Heavenly Father, I am so grateful for your promises. I know that they contain the truth about my life and my circumstances. When I lose sight of those truths, I thank you for the people you put in my life to encourage me and to point me back to you. You are my hope. You are my joy! You are enough, my Jehovah Jireh! Amen.

Series Theme Verse:

Acts 17:28
“For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” 

Written by Lauri White, a regular contributor to the Daily Devotional.