"Is Hope an Emotion or a Choice?"

"Is Hope an Emotion or a Choice?

I've been doing a little reading about hope. I've thought about it as wishful thinking and as confident assurance about the future. But I've never really thought about it quite like this....

Hope is a "secondary" emotion that usually arises as a result of feeling empowered. Likewise hopelessness is a result of feeling powerless. Either way, it isn't an emotion that manifests itself just out of the blue. That's why they call it secondary -- not because it's of lesser importance. 

Hope can either be a verb or a noun. Did you ever think about that? I know. Probably not. This is my mother the English teacher coming out in me!

"I hope to see you soon." "Hope" is an action so it's a verb. 

"I have hope in the Lord." Here "hope" is a thing or a noun. 

"I refuse to give up. I'm hoping for a miracle." This is not an emotion. It's a choice. It's a decision. 

“As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭71:14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, does this hope sound like a decision or an emotion? A noun or a verb? And why would the psalmist always have it? And what about us -- can we have that same hope? If so, then shouldn't we be praising Him like all the time?!

Lord, thank you for Jesus who is our Hope. May we chose to claim His hope daily and praise you constantly.