I often spend at least a part of the month of January fasting and praying for the year ahead. This year is no different, and I am nearing the end of the days I felt I should fast this month.

At the end of last week, I had an emotional meltdown. I have been praying for some specific things during this time, and as I realized there was only a week left, I began to doubt that I will see answers to those prayers before the time ends. (Fasting is never a guarantee that my requests will be answered on my schedule or in the way I would like, but I’ve been hoping I’d see evidence of God moving in these situations.)

God’s response to my emotional outburst was to refresh my memory of just how much He can accomplish in a week. I was reminded of the very beginning when He made the universe and everything in it out of nothing in less than a week. Suddenly, the answers to my prayers didn’t seem like such impossible outcomes to hope for in light of God’s power.

The same God who spoke a few words and brought light into darkness, who formed everything we see and breathed life into us, is still speaking and forming and breathing life today. His words create new realities out of nothing, and He speaks those words on our behalf. He is at work in our circumstances even when we see no way any good could come from them. When our dreams lie broken at our feet, apparently good enough only for the rubbish heap, He can breathe life into them again.

I don’t know what you’re hoping for today. Maybe you’re past hoping for things and trying just to move on with your life. Perhaps your heart has gotten sick because your hopes have been deferred for so long (Proverbs  13:12). Maybe you’re holding onto hope, but your fingers are slipping. Or perhaps hope is a distant memory and your dreams are buried so deep you’ve forgotten you once held them.

Whatever circumstance you find yourself in today, I encourage you to keep hope alive. Ask God for a new breath of life, new encouragement to hold on for a while longer. The answer may not come in a way you expect, but God, the Source of hope, will always come through for you. Any moment could be the one when He speaks and creates something out of your nothing, beauty and life out of ashes and dust. Hold on and look to Him with expectancy. When He speaks, light invades the darkness, fear loses out to His perfect love, walls crumble, and we are free to walk with Him into all He has created for us.