Just weeks after our son’s arrest, a colleague told me, “Shonda, be sure you put your hope in God because man will fail you.”

That sounded like good advice and I really intended to practice it.

As the investigation continued, we hired an attorney and we learned more about the situation. The attorney shared information with us that gave us hope.

In hindsight, I can honestly say I put my hope in the attorney and the justice system instead of God. You can read more about that in my blog post, Misplaced Hope.

Since I placed my expectations in people, when those expectations were not met, my hope shattered.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12 BSB).

Yes, my heart was sick—it was labeled as depression. I became shackled to despair.

Just months after my son’s conviction, I attended a writer’s conference seeking inspiration. One of the conference leaders gave me one piece of advice that I have not ever forgotten. She said,

“Whatever you write or whatever you speak, leave your audience with hope.”

Well how could I give what I did not have?

I had lost hope. And as a result of hopelessness, I became a prisoner of depression, despair, anxiety, guilt, self-condemnation, self-pity, shame, sorrow, fear, doubt, anger, and so on.

In spite of my despair, I continued to seek God by reading His word, and Scriptures about hope kept “popping up.” So, I started a “HOPE JOURNAL.”

I filled this journal with…

  • Scriptures with the word HOPE in it
  • Articles about HOPE
  • Quotes on HOPE
  • Cards I received about HOPE
  • Memes I pulled off Facebook about HOPE
  • Emails with HOPE-filled words

Then I came across a passage tucked away in Zechariah…

“Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you” (Zechariah 9:12 NIV).

A fortress is “any place of exceptional security; stronghold.”

God is my fortress.

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer…” (Psalm 118:2).

“I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress…” (Psalm 91:2).

Hope is “the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.”

God is my source of hope.

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13 NLT).

Hope in God is our expectation in what He can do, not what we or any other person can do.

By placing my hope in God, I became a prisoner of hope instead of a prisoner to despair and all its companions. As a PRISONER OF HOPE, I receive joy, peace, love, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, trust, confidence, courage, power, strength, and so on.

Are you ready for the shackles of despair to fall off? Then return to your fortress and become a prisoner of hope where you will find fulfillment in the Lord.