The Dance of Hope

The Christian walk is illuminated by an extraordinary promise: the ability to continually access new cycles of life and harvest, regardless of circumstances. Drawing heavily from the wisdom of King Solomon, this message reveals that believers possess an internal “wellspring of life” that guarantees perpetual hope and advancement.

This transformative truth encourages believers to adopt an attitude of engaged faith—choosing to “dance the dance of hope” and rise above the spiritual “winter” times that life inevitably brings.

1. The Divine Foundation: The Wellspring of Life and Perpetual Seasons

The concept of continuous renewal stems from profound biblical passages in Proverbs, highlighting the power of the heart and the sovereignty of God over life’s seasons.

The Power of the Heart

Proverbs 4:23 (KJV) instructs believers to “keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life”. The Passion Translation renders this central promise as the “wellspring of life” flowing from the innermost being.

• This wellspring guarantees a promise of hope that is transformative and alive with God’s power, designed to cause new harvest and new life in perpetuity, either corporately or individually.
• King Solomon, known for his wisdom, used the original Hebrew word Yesh or Yay when referencing this flow. While Yay means “seasons,” it predominantly means springtime.
• Solomon asserted that it is our heart attitude and our redeemed soul spirits that shape the seasons of our life, rather than external factors like our age or circumstances.
• Those who trust Jesus, the wellspring inside the heart, are continuously resourced and replenished by the River of God.

Perpetual Springtime (Yesh/Yay)

The use of the word Yesh points to a perpetual springtime that is always available in the spirit realm to the born-again.

• Springtime Significance: Springtime is the season when new seeds are planted, starting the new cycle of harvest that leads to summer and fall. Therefore, the word Yashe came to mean hope for the future or hope for continuous tomorrows.
• Believers can move back into springtime with faith and confidence even when enduring “winter” times characterized by trouble, loss, or ruin. This is a supernatural promise connected to the new birth.
• The perpetual availability of springtime means that one can cycle again into new life and harvest whenever it is necessary.

2. Engaging Hope: Activating the Dance (Coel)

To move out of a barren season and cycle forward, one must actively engage their hope, an action symbolized by dancing.

The Hebrew Word for Hope

The Hebrew word Coel is one of the words translated as hope, but it literally means “to dance, to twist, or to spin”. This illustrates the concept of the “dance of hope”—hope that compels the heart to move.

• Activating Faith: The core idea is that believers must leave the winter season behind and actively engage hope. Dancing activates hope and is a spiritual springtime action.
• Discarding Mourning: King David, who wrote Psalms 30, sang that the Lord “turned my mourning into joyful dancing” and took away his “mourning clothes”. This demonstrates a conscious, faith-based decision to put on joy clothes and garments of praise, activating the heart to dance.
• Dancing When Unmotivated: Sometimes, one must dance even when they do not feel like it to ensure that hope is engaged and a new cycle of harvest begins. This deliberate engagement, regardless of feelings, provides peace in the soul.

The Grind and Disengagement

Life’s difficulties, referred to as the “grind,” can wear people out, causing them to sit out the dance of life and feel like life is passing them by.

• The grind, like a “meal stone,” can crush joy. It is easy to allow struggles to rob joy, and the devil constantly attempts to steal it.
• The divine encouragement is “don’t give in” to the grind. Instead, plant new hope and choose by faith to cycle into a new future, flourishing again, even if one feels “like a tree cut back”.
• The well of living water within the believer’s heart is perpetually replenished by the River of God and never runs dry.

3. The New Testament Mandate: Superabounding in Hope

The New Testament confirms and expands upon this promise, urging believers to pursue hope aggressively.

The Exceeding Hope (Elpas and Perisuo)

The Apostle Paul prayed that the “God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

• Elpas: The Greek word for hope, Elpas, signifies anticipating with pleasure or expecting with confidence—a godly, living hope in a secure future.
• Perisuo: The word “abound” (Perisuo) means to superabound, or to be in excess, over and above, or exceedingly more.
• God intends for believers to superabound in hope that is boundless and over and above life’s troubles and difficulties.

Examples of Hope and Renewal

Several examples illustrate the power of engaging hope, even when circumstances seem defeated:

• The Composer Handel: George Frederick Handel, feeling like a “relic” and crippled by paralysis in his senior years, was inspired by the text “Comfort ye my people”. In just 23 days, he composed the Messiah, cycling into his greatest days and eternal fame. He proved that faith in God’s word, regardless of age, puts substance to new hope and dreams.
• The Choice to Dance: A popular song emphasized the choice believers must make: “when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance”. This reflects the necessity of giving faith a fighting chance.
• The Dream of Merged Footprints: An apocryphal story describes a dream where the dreamer’s chaotic footprints eventually merged precisely inside Jesus’ larger footprints, symbolizing alignment. When the footprints suddenly became messy again, the Lord smiled and explained, “That’s when we danced”. This signifies that the ultimate quest of life is becoming so one with Christ that the believer dances with Him into their future, merging their melody of peace and joy with His.