Hope in the Darkness

Hope. It's something we all long for. We want hope. Hope helps us get through the days. We have all had times where we feel hopeful. Yet times come when we feel hopeless, like all hope is gone.

I guess at times we feel like Job. Job 17:15, "Where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?"

When do we lose hope? How come hopelessness creeps upon us?

Depression. Sadness. Grief. Anger. Bitterness. Fear. Loss.

Those are just a few things that you may be going through right now. Maybe you feel hopeless. Maybe you even know that there is hope in Jesus, yet you still struggle to have hope. You're not alone.

One of my favorite passages of scripture is Psalm 42. This is what it says in verse five and eleven, "Why am I so depressed? Why this turmoil within me? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God."

The Psalmist starts out this verse asking why he feels depressed, why there is turmoil in him. We've all been there. We like to ask God why. We like to question. But then the Psalmist writes, "Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God." 

Wow. He tells others to put their hope in God, for he still praises God. Despite the fact that he feels depressed, despite the fact he feels turmoil within, he still praises God. 

Psalm 71:14 sounds similar to that.  "But I will hope continually and will praise You more and more." Hope in Him and praise Him. 

I get it, though, it's hard. Hope doesn't always come easily. I have no idea what you're going through right now... maybe the loss of a friend, depression, a loved one moved away, and maybe you just feel utterly hopeless. Hold on, friend. Hold on. There's an acronym for hope I like...

H. old 

O. n

P. ain

E. nds

Hold on, pain ends. God's light can pierce through the darkness you're in right now. His love can find a way through anything. 

When I'm talk about hope in this post, I'm talking about hope from Jesus. When we put our hope in things or people those things or people will let us down eventually. But Jesus will never let you  down.

Jeremiah 14:22 puts that into words more clearly, "Can any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Or can the skies alone give showers? Are You not the Lord our God? We therefore put our hope in You, for You have done all these things."

Put your hope in Jesus. I know it's hard. I'm not promising that you will always feel hopeful, but deep down in your soul you can have hope. True hope is found in Jesus Christ. 

Lamentations 3:20-22 says, "I continually remember them and have become depressed. Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end."

When hopelessness creeps up on you, open God's Word, see what He has to say. Let Him speak to you in the quiet of night, speak to you through His holy Word. Don't try to do it on your own. Please, go to God with whatever you're going through. You're not alone.