How easy it is to lose hope? A few hard knocks from Satan, a mini or major crisis, the loss of a loved one or the hurt and angst of relationships gone awry and hope can seem so bleak and so far in the distance. Depression sets in and you avoid even the glimmers of light for fear they will fade again. Woah… I’ve depressed myself! That too is easy to do by speaking negatively into your life, which I happen to have a vast amount of experience at. I’m getting better, but any day can find me relapsing into a loss of hope. I look at numbers on my web count and think, “There are so few.” And then I think about the preacher standing in the pulpit on Sunday morning in a little country church preaching to 10 people, he would love to have my numbers. And I’m ashamed. I forget that God called me to write, sing and speak, He didn’t call me to count. And who am I to say that if it were one, that one wouldn’t change the world when God did something amazing in their life.
Just wrote myself happy!
This morning I went looking for hope in the Word of God. 133 times it’s mentioned. And just a few of them are below to encourage you in your day.
Hope when people are missing
Ruth 1:12-13
“Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons; would ye tarry for them till they were grown? Would ye stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my daughters; it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.”
Naomi was speaking to Orpha and Ruth, bearing her heart of the grief from the loss of her husband and sons. One daughter-in-law was about to take her up on her offer to leave, but Ruth… not her. She had a hope in her heart that God would provide a new life for she and Naomi, and if He chose not to, she still would stay and that hope turned into one of the most glorious love stories in the bible.
Grief can cloud hope till you believe the sun will never shine again. Look around you. Who has God sent into your life to stand in the gap until the sun shines again? Make a list of everyone in your life that you love, and begin praying that God blesses your relationships and the sky open with blessings.
How can I say that… because I’ve been there; when I thought nobody understood. But God did, because He’d walked the path I was on. He lost friend after friend at the cross on His hardest day. We were one of them if you think about it. Until we came back, glory to God! Thank You Jesus for the hope I have in You, the greatest friend of all.
Hope when purpose is missing
Psalm 22:9
But Thou art He that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.
From birth the Lord has given us hope and purpose. It is a lie from the pits of Hell that you are here without reason. There is an amazing plan for your life, but you cannot lose hope in Christ before it is completed. He needs you to get in the word and search it out for direction.
Hope when strength is missing
Psalm 31:24
Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
A weak heart can be physical, emotional or spiritual. It can suck the life out of your day quickly and convince you that it’s over. There’s no need to battle back. What would have happened if King David had not battled back? There were times he was hidden in the darkness of a cave, friends forsook him, lies were told, authority was jealous and life was bleak. But he battled back with honor and stood on the side of the Lord when life was at its worst. He remembered the victories and encouraged his heart with the Word of God. It doesn’t cost a dime for us to find hope, but it cost Christ His life to give it. Hang on to it no matter what the world around you is saying.
Hope when mercy is missing
Psalm 33:22
Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in Thee.
How many times have we believed we’ve gone too far? We’ve failed God one too many times and there’s no mercy left in the well. First of all, the well has an endless supply. But it’s we who have to dip the bucket to fill it up, God’s really not into room service. He expects His children to do somethings on their own, and one of those things is coming to Him to receive the endless supply of hope and mercy that He has waiting. Get yourself to well of His word!
Hope when answers are missing
Psalm 38:15
For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.
Satan is so full of chatter. He’ll tell you lie after lie until you lose hope, and the best one in his arsenal is that God doesn’t hear you. Well, take heart. The LORD hears every word, those spoken, those thought, and even those that you couldn’t even groan. That hope is in the word of God making it truth and the Devil is a liar. When answers are missing it is most often because we didn’t seek His answer. We sought the one we wanted, and that might not be His best.
Oh… believe me when I tell you I am so experienced in missing answers that I probably have a PHD waiting for me in Heaven on the wall of my mansion. Our hope for an answer again lies in the word of God. Every single ounce of hope we have come from Him. It’s kind of a pattern for living.
It’s not that we lose hope, it’s that we don’t pick it up. It’s waiting for you in your Bible whether it’s paper, digital or through the preaching of the Word. Keep search, don’t let Satan’s lies steal the greatest treasure you have.
Hope is find throughout the Old and New Testament. Do a word search and start planting seeds in your soul that will make hope grow!
