Are You Having A Hard Time Holding On To Hope?
Take a moment to picture the person filled with hope, and then, the hopeless person. When I pictured a person filled with hope I see a woman with a big smile on the face dancing outside in the warmth of the sunshine. I see the hopeless woman inside, sitting in darkness and despair.
Can Hope Really Have That Kind Of An Effect On Us?
Absolutely it can, because hope expects something to happen, so much that, hope searches for and even creates opportunities. Someone without hope anticipates no change for the good, but continual sameness. The person filled with hope lives a full and active life. But every now and then, life hits hard, and threatens to drain our hope.
Reality Check
Life can be hard. Situations and even people have the ability to wear us out and wear us down. The prophet Isaiah spoke about weariness we all face at some point.
“You were tired out by the length of your road,
yet you did not say, ‘It is hopeless.’
you found renewed strength,
therefore you did not faint.
Isaiah 57:10
Hope renews our strength even in the face of difficulties.
7 Real Life Circumstances That Drain Our Hope:
1.Health Problems and Disease
Coronavirus hit our world harder than any disease at any time in history. The threat of Coronavirus halted our normal life in every way. Focusing too much on this current situation sets us up for hopelessness.
2. Financial problems
Financial crisis seems eminent for many in our world because of the effects of the Coronavirus. Lack of or loss of money has rendered many people hopeless. Financial problems tell us lies, that we can’t come out of our situation.
3. Isolation/Loneliness
God created us for relationship. Humans need interaction, love, and acceptance from other humans. We were not created for complete isolation. Relational issues may cause us to isolate or feel isolated which causes loneliness. Loneliness can be painful and the source of hopelessness telling us, that this will never change.
4. Loss/Death
I still remember the pain of my father’s death thirty years ago. I wasn’t sure I would make it through that terrible loss and I wasn’t sure my mother would either. Death or even the loss of someone we love, can be a devastating blow to our hope.
5. Marriage problems
How many times have I heard someone facing marriage problems say, “He will never change” or “She will never change.” Never is a long time and I have seen a lot of people and marriages change when someone in the marriage held on to hope.
6. Spiritual Attacks
Spiritual attacks don’t always make sense in the natural. Sometimes we can’t even point to the reason that we are struggling and sometimes we can. But I assure you that a spiritual attack is always designed to steal, to kill, and to destroy our hope.
7. Depression/Anxiety
Many times, depression and anxiety come as a result of any of the above life situations that we face. And it comes when we wrestle with believing the lie, that we have no hope, that we are in imminent danger, or that life will never change.
Each one of these real-life circumstances have the potential to drain our hope, leaving us in a state of hopelessness. I hope you see that the reason hopelessness creeps in all those areas is because we believe a lie.
What does it mean to be hopeless?
Hopeless is feeling despair. For a believers, hopeless should not be our reality. While real life circumstances can temporarily knock us down from a high level of hope, they should never be able to keep us there.
Hope Or The Lack Of Hope Affects Our Life Significantly.
Look at these two verses from Jeremiah.
“Keep your feet from being unshod And your throat from thirst; But you said,
‘It is hopeless! No! For I have loved strangers, And after them I will walk.’
Jeremiah 2:25
“But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans,
and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.
Jeremiah 18:12
Did you notice what those who say they are hopeless do?
Jeremiah 2:25 says, they walk after strangers. How many times as a parent did I warn my children against talking to strangers, against going with strangers. Strangers represented people who were not trustworthy. They weren’t a part of our family or our trusted circle. Strangers could be dangerous. They could take you places you did not want to go and cause you to do what you do not want to do.
Jeremiah 18:12 points out a different problem for the one who says they are hopeless. This one follows their own ways and their own heart. Isn’t that the message of the world today?
Go your own way.
Do your own thing.
To each his own.
Follow your heart.
The problem is the condition of the human heart apart from Christ.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?
Jeremiah 17:9
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Proverbs 26:12
Our heart apart from Christ is no safer than a stranger whom we do not know. Therefore, we combat hoplessness by setting our hope on the only One who is trustworthy and true. Jesus Christ is our only safe place to set our heart, our mind, our ways, and our hope.
Six Benefits Of Setting Our Hope In The Lord.
1. Strength
Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart,
all you who hope in the Lord.
Psalm 31:24
2. His Attention
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
on those who hope in His mercy.
Psalm 33:18
3. His help
Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.
Psalm 42:5, 11 and 43:5
4. Mercy and Redemption
O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy,
and with Him is abundant redemption.
Psalm 130:7
5. Happiness
Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
whose hope is in the Lord his God.
Psalm 146:5
6. God’s pleasure in us
The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
in those who hope in His mercy.
Psalm 147:11
Combat hopelessness and set your hope in the Lord dear Sister. His benefits are with the one who sets their hope in Him.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
Facing a very difficult situation right now and need more encouragement? Read my past blog post, What Hopeless Situation Are You Facing Today?
