How to Find Joy When the Life You Have Is Not the Life You Hoped ForSample

Stop #2: Hope & Remembrance

At the moment that God tells Joshua to prepare to enter the promised land, He is drawing him, and the people of Israel, out of their time of mourning and lament.

Now, this transition into the promised land did not bring Moses back to life. Nor did it relieve any remaining grief that Joshua or Israel may have been feeling.

But in the midst of their pain, God continued moving them forward to the fulfillment of His promises. He didn’t get distracted, discouraged, or lost. God remained steadfast. While Israel was experiencing emotional loss, grief, and sadness, God was still at work. No matter how deep their pain was, they could find hope in the truth that He was always doing a new thing.

Hope moves us to believe that God is not going to leave us in our pain, but is doing a work of transformation in and through it. The moment in which we might be overcome by despair, hope reminds us that God is both aware and concerned about our pain.

But if we are not careful, our hope in God can get consumed by the enemy of hope: doubt and despair.

While hope is the fruit of lament, the substance of our hope is God Himself. He is the only one who is unchanging and strong enough to overcome the power of doubt and despair in our life.

We serve a God who is always with us, and it’s in his character and promises that we ground our hope.

On top of that, or rather in light of it, hope also comes by remembering our divine identity and purpose.

In Joshua 1:6-9, God transitions from talking about Himself to talking about Joshua. After reminding Joshua of His character and His promises, God proceeds to remind him about his purpose. Through Joshua, God would fulfill what he had promised over 700 years earlier to Abraham. Joshua would lead Israel to take hold of the promised land of Canaan.

Joshua’s purpose was connected to a story that was bigger than his own life or the life of the people he was leading, because God had been working through Israel to bless the entire world.

This is the purpose that would motivate him to face all of what was waiting for him in Canaan. He would fight to overcome obstacle after obstacle because his purpose was greater than his pain. Joshua knew he was part of a bigger story, and it is this purpose that fueled his faithfulness to God.

Prolonged seasons of longing or suffering can crowd our minds and hearts. If we aren’t careful, they will consume all of our attention, causing us to forget the calling on our life, both to image God and care for his world.

While it can be painful, our seasons of suffering or longing are not in vain. The possibilities are endless for what God can and will do with them. Our job is to have the willingness to see our seasons with new eyes of hope, knowing we are part of a greater purpose and larger story.