The Vocabulary of Victory: Saying What Hope Would Say

More than what you do, what do you say when everything is falling apart?

Yesterday, my pastor, Overseer Mack of The L.I.V.E. Church, preached on Habakkuk 3:16-19.

16 I heard and my heart pounded,
    my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
    and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
    to come on the nation invading us.

17  Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,

18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.

It was one of those sermons that doesn't just meet you where you are. It gives (literal) language that you didn't know you needed.

“The Vocabulary of Victory” as he named it is the decision to understand your circumstances but choose to praise, honor, and trust the Lord anyhow with your words. This wisdom comes alive in verse 18 “yet I will rejoice.”

And instantly, as a writer, that phrase stuck with me.

Because I believe words, our vocabulary, hold weight. They shape our world. They reveal what we believe. And sometimes, they’re the only thing we have when circumstances make no sense.

The Vision and the Wait

Most people know Habakkuk for chapter 2: “Write the vision and make it plain...” It’s the scripture we quote when we’re dreaming. Planning. Declaring. But chapter 3 is when the real faith you need to see a vision unfold kicks in.

In chapter 2, God tells Habakkuk to write down the promise. In chapter 3, Habakkuk shows us how to live while waiting for it to manifest, even while it looks bleak. We all face these chapter 3 seasons.

Growing up in church, I used to roll my eyes a little when preachers said, “Everybody’s going through something.” It sounded too broad. Too dramatic. Unreal. Surely, not everybody. Not all the time.

But now I’m older. My friends are older. And I’ve lived long enough to know they were right.

Everybody is going through something. A diagnosis. A disappointment. A delay. A loss they don’t talk about out loud. A dream that’s slower than expected. A child they’re worried about. A mind they can’t seem to settle. A heart still healing.

My timeline is full of beauty and burnout all at once.

This is why our vocabulary matters so deeply. The words we choose when facing emptiness reveal what we truly believe about God's faithfulness.

Habakkuk isn’t standing in the promise God just told him to write out—he’s sitting in lack.

• The fig tree isn’t blooming.

• The vines have no grapes.

• The fields are empty.

• The stalls are bare.

And yet, he says: “Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord; I will be joyful in God my Savior.” (Habakkuk 3:18)

That yet is everything. It’s not denial. It’s not pretending things aren’t hard.
It’s a decision. A declaration. A vocabulary rooted in truth that goes deeper than the moment.

Scriptures That Speak in the Middle

When Pastor Mack preached that message, a few scriptures came flooding to mind, a few others I had to search for to remember, but they are:

• Job 13:15 – “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”
  That’s trust even in pain.

• 2 Corinthians 4:8–9 – “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed..”
  That’s pressure without collapse.

• Psalm 42:11 – “Why, my soul, are you downcast?... I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”
  That’s worship when you don’t feel like it.

• Lamentations 3:21–23 – “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
  That’s remembering who God is when all else fails.

• Romans 5:3–5 – “We glory in tribulations... knowing that suffering produces perseverance... and hope does not put us to shame.”
  That’s endurance with an eternal perspective.

These aren’t just verses for comfort. They’re a blueprint for how to speak while you wait. While you suffer. While what you believe hasn’t shown up yet.

The Power of Yet and Not

Each verse carries two powerful little words that reshape our entire perspective:

Yet - the conjunction of contrast that pivots from circumstance to conviction:

• Yet will I trust Him

• Yet praise Him

• Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope

Not - the boundary that limits the power of our problems:

• Not crushed.

• Not in despair.

• Not forsaken.

• Not destroyed.

• Not consumed.

• Not put to shame.

That might sound like semantics, but for our faith, it’s everything.

Because our God doesn’t always stop the storm, but He anchors us through it. He doesn’t promise we won’t feel it but He promises we won’t fall apart. We are not what the situation says we are. We are not finished just because things look bad.

This Is Why OMI Exists

To give language to your “yet.”

To remind you that hope still lives here—even when the field is empty and the tree hasn’t bloomed.

We don’t sell clothes. We wear reminders.

And this is one:
Victory isn’t always a change in your situation.
Sometimes, it’s a choice.

So Today…

I’m choosing the vocabulary of victory.

To keep believing. To keep praising and holding on to hope even when the fig tree is bare.

I’m choosing to say:

• Yet I will rejoice.

• Still, I trust You.

• Hope does not put me to shame.

• Great is Your faithfulness.

Not because anything has changed, not because the promise has arrived.

But now.

Because victory is not an outcome.

It’s a position.

If you're reading this in a hard season, I hope you remember—
The vision still speaks (Habakkuk 2:2). And your words in the waiting matter just as much as the promise itself.

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note on lowercase styling:

you may notice that “God” and “Jesus” appear in lowercase throughout the site. this isn’t a sign of irreverence—it’s simply a design default. the lowercase aesthetic reflects the tone and visual style of the omi brand, not the weight of the One being referenced. trust—His name is still above every name, and that’s honored here. (philippians 2:9)

What Romans 15:13 Teaches Us About Everyday Hope

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” — Romans 15:13

✨ This benediction in Romans isn’t a random encouragement—it’s the closing prayer of Paul’s long appeal for unity in the early church. Written to a divided group of Jewish and Gentile believers navigating theological tension, cultural hostility, and weariness from persecution (hmm…does that sound familiar to anyone in America right now?…maybe it’s just me), this verse is a plea. Paul is blessing them not with material promises, but with the kind of inner strength that could only come from God Himself: joy, peace, and overflowing hope—not circumstantial, but Only Spirit-powered.

✨ And it lands for us, too. Maybe you’re not facing persecution—maybe your friend is, or your cousin is, or you’re hearing about it. And on top of that, you might be scrolling between laundry loads, in between meetings, or trying to quiet your mind long enough to feel anything other than pressure. Trying to relieve the stress of life that builds between bills, burnout, and being the strong one for everyone else. This verse might’ve been written for ancient Rome, but it holds a process we need today… you need today.

A God Who Specializes in Hope

Let’s start here: “May the God of hope…”
God isn’t just the giver of hope. He’s the God of hope.

Hope is not a supplement to His character.
It is His character.

Which means… He doesn’t just hand it out.
He embodies it.

When we feel low on hope, we aren’t just missing a feeling.
We’re missing a connection to the source.

✨ Imagine being in the middle of a storm with no shelter in sight. Now imagine seeing someone walk toward you, not with an umbrella, but with a whole house. That’s who God is in this verse. Not a temporary solution. A permanent presence. A permanent protector. 

COMPLETE JOY AND PEACE

“…fill you with all joy and peace…”

The word Paul uses for fill in the original Greek is plerosai (πληρῶσαι)—to make full, to supply completely, to saturate every part. It’s the same word used when Jesus fulfills prophecy, or when the Spirit fills the room in Acts 2. It’s a full-to-the-brim, nothing-left-untouched kind of filling.

And it’s not some joy and peace.
It’s all.

Not scraps of joy.
Not slivers of peace just to get you through the day.
All. Enough for your heartbreak and your hope. Enough for the hard parts of your story and the holy ones. Enough to reach what you haven’t even told anyone you’re struggling with.

This verse doesn’t tell you to go find joy and peace. It tells you to be filled with them.

✨ Imagine pouring water into a cracked jar and watching it miraculously hold the water. That’s what God does. He doesn’t just patch up what’s broken—He fills what seems impossible to hold anything. He lets joy and peace sit in the same places where fear and failure once lived.

You don’t have to fake it.
you don’t have to wait to be fixed.
You just have to open up.
Let the God of hope do the filling.

Trust Is the Turning Point

“…as you trust in Him…”

This verse hinges on trust.

Not perfect theology.
Not a morning routine.
Not proof of progress.

Just trust.

And let’s be honest—sometimes trusting God feels like holding your breath underwater, hoping He remembers you’re down there.

But that kind of trust—the shaky, surrendering kind—is exactly what He honors.
It’s not about strength. It’s about posture.

Trust is not the absence of doubt. It’s what we choose to do with our doubt.

Do we bring it to Him—or do we bury it and pretend we’re fine?

Romans 15:13 invites us to bring it.
To trust enough to let Him hold the pieces we’ve dropped.

The Kind of Hope That Overflows

“…so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Hope isn’t for holding. It’s for spilling over.
it spills into your parenting, your friendships, your decisions, your dreams.

because the Spirit is present, you have power to let it fill you and overflow in your life with trust that He pushes you to use.

The word “overflow” implies that what’s being poured in is too much to contain.

The kind that spills into rooms you never planned to enter because God knows someone in there needs what you’re carrying.

That’s the kind of hope God gives—one that doesn’t just hold you up, but holds others up through you.

And that starts with letting Him fill you again.

Hope in Real Life

So what does this mean when:

• Your kid is melting down again and you’re out of patience?

• You’re still waiting for the breakthrough you prayed for six months ago?

• You’re showing up for others while secretly needing someone to show up for you?

• you're barely making it to the end of the day without yelling, quitting, or giving up?

• There’s more month than money.

• You forgot to eat again.

• You love your life, but also want to run away from it sometimes.

You don’t have to create hope today. You just have to connect to it.

You can stop trying to manufacture peace.
You can let joy come to you.
You can trust God not because everything is fixed, but because He is still God when it’s not.

He is the God of hope.
And hope lives at your address, not just in your Bible app.

He Fills. You Trust. Hope Overflows.

Let Romans 15:13 be more than a verse you skim.
Let it be the prayer you breathe before you send the next email.
Let it be the truth you speak when you feel like you’re running on empty.
Let it be the quiet confidence that this—this—is how hope begins again.

👇🏾 Download our free Romans 15:13 prayer and reflection guide
to start your own rhythm of hope—even in the middle of real life.
[Download now]

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note on lowercase styling:

you may notice that “God” and “Jesus” appear in lowercase throughout the site. this isn’t a sign of irreverence—it’s simply a design default. the lowercase aesthetic reflects the tone and visual style of the omi brand, not the weight of the One being referenced. trust—His name is still above every name, and that’s honored here. (philippians 2:9)