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A Ray of Hope!

A quick scroll through social media, and you are bombarded with posts, videos, and sermons on how to be hopeful about your future! ‘Hope’ is a scroll, swipe, or click away!

Maybe you’re facing hardship (illness, a failed relationship, or financial stress), and hoping for change takes up too much emotional and mental strength. It’s hard to pray. For others, it’s a lingering sense of sameness and unhappiness. This is all there is to life. For both, the trail leads to desperate, tired hopelessness. Where to from here?

In 1944, during WWII, after enduring ten months of suffering while imprisoned by the Nazis for hiding Jews, Corrie Ten Boom, upon her release, devoted her life to sharing the love of Jesus. What made Corrie hold on to hope? In her words,

When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.

Think of the prophet Elijah who felt hopeless and nearly suicidal. God’s response to Elijah’s condition was to have him rest but then dust off and get going!

So what can we do when hopelessness weighs, and it’s taking longer than expected to remember that God is present and he wants you to take his help? Here are some choices you can make:

1. Flee to God. We have a ‘God of hope,’ which means hope resides in the person of Jesus Christ. You don’t need to ‘faith it up’ or wait to ‘feel hopeful.’ You can choose to rest in Him.

2. Run to friends and family. Resolve to push back the desire to isolate and withdraw. If it’s tough to find community, remember your friend Jesus is next to you. Ask Him to draw near.

3. Fill your mind with scripture. No one can take that away.

4. Press play on worshipping God with your doubts and heaviness. Isaiah 61:3 reminds us of the incredible exchange that awaits you: ‘the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness!

It is ok to have times of depressive thoughts or feel overwhelmed by the darkness. Jesus, too, was no stranger to these. Yet, like Corrie and Elijah, the crucial step is choosing not to stay there. Be encouraged, friend, to choose differently today! For the odds are in your favor, and God fights for you!

To consider:

Forgiveness is a crucial step towards restored hope. We may need to forgive others for trying to ‘sort us out’ and ourselves of guilt for not getting ‘hope-full’ faster. Is there someone you need to forgive as you journey back to hope?