What is hope? It is a desire for a certain thing to happen. It is something that people really, really want. But their hope is for things that there is no guarantee they will take place. They just hope things will line up in the right way. But there is so much that is beyond their control. And since this is the case, so many people live without any hope. Things are not getting better and only seem to get worse. 
So is there any hope in this world? The answer is yes, if you use the Bible's definition of hope. As opposed to a strong desire for something, the Bible defines hope as a strong and confident expectation. In God's Word, hope doesn't just desire, it expects. In God's Word, hope isn't uncertain, it is confident. It isn't what we can see and can't get. It is what we can't yet see but know we will get.
Hope is connected to a promise. It is focusing on the promise and the one who made the promise no matter what our situation might be. The Bible is filled with promises that are made by the creator of the universe and are guaranteed by Him no matter what our situation might be. Knowing that brings hope!

When we take on ourselves whatever difficulty someone else is dealing with, their difficulty becomes our difficulty. In doing so their burden becomes easier for them to overcome.  I was on the receiving end of this one winter day in Grand Rapids. We had a recent heavy snowfall and many of the side streets had hardly been plowed at all. I made a right turn onto one of those side streets to access my doctor's building for an appointment. The curve of the street dipped down as I turned into 10 inches of slush and immediately my car stuck. For a few minutes I tried gunning through the slush but went nowhere. What was I doing to do? 

Just then a woman walked out of my doctor's building and seeing my predicament came over and asked to help. She offered to get in and drive while I pushed, but my pushing wasn't enough. What are we going to do? Just then a man walked up the sidewalk and seeing our predicament came up and offered to help push. Between her driving and our pushing the car came right out and I make my appointment. 
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Those two people had carried my burden. My trouble became their trouble. They had reached out and helped and my burden was overcome. As Christians we need to operate like that. Perhaps we can send a card, or make a meal, or pray with them on the phone, or give them some money, or share our experiences with the burden, or watch their kids while they go to an appointment or give them a ride. The list goes on. Make someone's trouble easier to deal with. Carry each other's burdens.