How does hope keep us afloat even when things get tough?

Or when it feels like we are enslaved to chronic sin? 

Hope sustains us because it is found in Jesus Christ. He became man to save us from our sin so that we might spend eternity with him. His grace is available to us especially in the Sacrament of Confession, when we come to him with a contrite heart, and the Eucharist, where his ultimate sacrifice is recreated time and time again for us to receive him in Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

According to the Catechism, this virtue of hope "responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man." (CCC 1818)

So it is accessible not to just a few, but to us all!

So if you're searching for freedom from feeling discouraged, ashamed or abandoned, look no further than Jesus. Know that there is rest for you—rest in the hope found in God alone.

See also: Genesis 15 and Genesis 22