Why are you in despair O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.”
Psalm 42:5
I saw the desperation in a father’s eyes as he walked down an aisle in a small country church far from here near Lake Sam Rayburn. He walked up to me after the sermon I had preached and asked me if I would pray for his young married daughter who was the mother of three. She had cancer, and this loving father was asking me to pray for a miracle for his daughter. Here was a man trying to cling to hope in a hopeless situation.
I knelt by another man’s bedside, holding his hand as he labored to breathe. He was dying and he knew it. He asked me to pray that he would remain strong in his faith until the very end. We took his hopeless chronic condition and went to God pleading for hope - hope to endure in the faith. We rejoiced in the hope of Heaven. This scene repeated itself several more times until this larger-than-life man was taken from us. Even in a hopeless situation, this man never lost hope.
I watched a different man in a worship service recently sinking under the weight of the world seemingly sitting on his shoulders. Though a man’s man in every way, on this day the pressures of life were so burdensome on his soul that he sat in a pew with his head and heart bowed to God in a desperate pleas for help. He was crying out for hope. I watched his countenance change by the end of that service as this warrior in the faith received the tender and loving touch of his Heavenly Father and he left with hope renewed.
She battled cancer for years but she never gave up hope. She posted scriptures around her living room and bedroom trusting God for healing. She fought the fight of faith to the end. Sadly, her healing did not come this side of heaven. She is in glory now perfectly healed. She did not give into despair. She fought the good fight of faith valiantly.
I saw another man at the end of his wits kneeling at the front of the sanctuary to unload his burdens to the Lord during a worship service. He pleaded for hope to carry on. In life this man carries a lot of authority, but yesterday he was just another child before God needing help and hope.
Everywhere you go people are in need of hope. We can live without a lot of things, but to live without hope is a cruel punishment few can endure. What is causing you to despair and lose hope? You don’t have to look around long to find reasons. There are hopeless situations everywhere. This is a problem that dates back to biblical times. The psalmist experienced it when he wrote Psalm 42:5. He knew the dark dungeon of depression and how it strangles hope in the heart. The writer knew the agony of feeling backed into a corner with no way of escape, and as a result hope oozed from his heart like water out of a bucket with a hole in the bottom.
Even in the middle of feeling hopeless, the psalmist counsels himself as well as the rest of us with, “Hope in God.” The word hope in this verse means to wait patiently on God and to expect God to come and help. That might sound easy as words splashed in black ink on a page, but in real life it is a little more difficult. How do you hope in someone you can’t see, can’t prove exists scientifically, and who seems so far removed from the hopeless situations in our lives? How do you maintain hope in someone who can remain silent in times when you need Him most? Many of you have waited on God and it seems you have waited in vain because you expected Him to come through and it appears that He let you down. But appearances can be deceiving.
Suffice it to say that multitudes have thought God had abandoned them in their hour of crisis, only to find in hindsight that God was there providing strength, comfort, support, provision, and yes, hope too. God is the one who grants you the optimism that better days are coming, things are going to turn around, the crisis will pass, and hope is not in vain. God does not fail His children when they are most in need of help and hope. He does not leave us high and dry in our most critical times of need (Psalm 50:15, Psalm 46:10.) In difficult times He is very present and He is our helper. (Ps 46:1) I urge you to take your troubles and roll them onto God’s massive shoulders today, trading your despair for His hope. Let Him turn your perspective from despair and gloom to optimism and expectation. Like the old song says, “Let us have a little talk with Jesus and tell Him all about our troubles and He will hear our faintest cry and will answer by and by. Just a little talk with Jesus makes it right.” A little talk with Jesus can restore hope for the hopeless soul.
Steps to Trust and Obey:
1. How are you doing in the hope department? On a scale from 1-10, where would pinpoint your level of hope today?
2. If your hope is waning can you identify what has happened to cause you to feel this way?
3. Where is God in this situation? What is the last thing He has spoken to you? Do you believe Him?
4. Is the Lord speaking to you today? If so, what is He saying and calling to you to do in response to His voice?
No comments:
Post a Comment