The word essential has been embedded in the world’s vocabulary over the past 2-3 months. It has been used mainly to describe which occupations are absolutely necessary during this time of a deadly pandemic. These jobs must be of vital importance to the wellbeing or upkeep of the most critical needs of society. Everything that was not deemed essential had to either shut down or run remotely from each employee’s home. As a teacher, I found myself in this category which gave me time to think about what else should be deemed as essential. Hope was the only answer for three major reasons: I had nothing left, I had to overcome, and I wanted to please God.

I had to nothing left…
After my sister died, many people surrounded me with love. All the sympathy and love in the world could not fix the void I felt. What I didn’t know was that I should’ve enjoyed it because the sympathy love wouldn’t last long. I was quickly met with two heartbreaks back to back. The heartbreak came from people who knew how fragile my heart was and to me, it seemed like they enjoyed seeing me down. So now within a month, I had lost my sister and almost everyone that claimed they loved me. I felt like I literally had nothing and no one. The only choice in front of me was to have hope. Hope was of vital importance to my wellbeing. I would not have functioned without it. And I had to get back up and at least function.
As I began to function again, I could hear my sister’s voice saying, “Fight back!” My weapon of choice once again was hope. I had to have hope that God allowed all of that to happen for a reason. I had to have hope that I was strong enough to push past this pain. Shortly after the double heartbreaks, the quarantine began and I really found my hope. Without the quarantine, I would have been forced to be around those that tried to break me about twice a week. My hope is in the fact that God’s timing is perfect and this quarantine gave me time to recover. I will be honest and say that some days I wish those moments would not have happened, but I’m so grateful and thankful to God that He allowed it. I’m becoming stronger each day because of it. Without hope, I would not be able to say that.
I had to overcome…
While reading this some may wonder “Why did you decide to share this and why now? What do you get out of this? Are you trying to embarrass someone?”
The short answer to this is – It’s time to overcome! Please understand that I hate no one! In fact, I praise God for every single person that has been a factor to my heartbreak in 2020! They were an instrumental part of my growth and I thank them for it!
The more biblical answer is quite simple as well. The Bible tells us in Revelations 12:11 that we overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. This was my testimony of the most trying months of my life. I’ll admit that for weeks I felt like those that hurt me, along with the devil and depression, had power over me. I couldn’t defend myself properly in either of the heartbreaking situations and I felt defeated. I had to overcome the dark thoughts I was feeling! The only way I knew how was to add the hope that comes from my covenant with Jesus Christ (the lamb). Then once I had the strength to function again, I had to tell the testimony. My testimony is short and sweet- I made it out and I’m stronger because of it! This is not about anything other than defeating the devil and God getting to glory.
Lastly, I wanted to please God…
Pleasing God is the ultimate goal of life for a believer. It is what we aim to do at all times although we may fall short sometimes. Hebrews 11:6 says “And it is impossible to please God without faith…” Everyone in the Christian faith loves to talk about faith. And it’s all because we want to please God. But there’s one thing we are missing from the equation. Hope! You can’t have faith without hope. It’s essential! Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” So in order for me to please God, I must have faith. And faith is the confidence in what I hope for. I have to have hope!
Hope is essential in order to please God and overcome your situation. I pray that you find the strength to get your hope back. It is vital for you to live a healthy and prosperous life! The ‘My Hope is Essential’ phrase is more than something catchy for a t-shirt. It’s a lifestyle. With every breath I take, I have to add hope in order to not crumble. I want to encourage those that are going through any type of heartbreak to find hope in something and then overcome! It may take a second to find the hope, but when you do, hold on to it and fight for your life back! Then tell someone else! Don’t be afraid or ashamed. Your story could be the thing that helps someone else overcome.
Today I overcome by the words of my testimony. Someone else may overcome by reading these words. I challenge you to overcome this week. Share your testimony of how you have #OvercomeWithHope. Feel free to do it in the comments or on your own social media! You never know who is waiting to hear your story so they can find hope. I would love to read your testimony so make sure you use the hashtag #OvercomeWithHope
God Bless you!

You seem to be very strong and able to overcome any hardship. Hating someone takes too much energy and weighs us down.