Have You Lost Hope?

My daughter had given up hope. 

She had learned in the last few years just how financially strapped we had become and thought to herself "there is no way I will get a Kindle for my birthday".  We had said no when she asked. We knew we couldn't afford one. I had one that was a few years old, but next to my kids, my phone and my Kindle were my most prized possessions.

Then, I decided, that giving my daughter hope again was more important than a thing. I cleaned the Kindle up, a friend bought a skin, we put it back in the original packaging (my husband obsesses about keeping the boxes of everything!) and wrapped it up.

The look on her face was amazing.

"Are you for real?" was the first thing she asked.

We were and in that instant, her hope was restored.

What the Bible Says 

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.   Proverbs 13:12 (KJV)

If you have lost hope, you are in a dangerous place. Lack of hope is disheartening. It will cause you to doubt, and make you vulnerable to despair. 

Lamentations, (the book of mourning) tells us this: no matter how bad the circumstance, there is always reason to hold onto hope. 

Lamentations 3:20-22  (MSG) 

I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,

the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed.I remember it all—oh, how well I remember— the feeling of hitting the bottom.But there's one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:God's loyal love couldn't have run out, his merciful love couldn't have dried up.They're created new every morning. How great your faithfulness!I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over). He's all I've got left.

Now my daughter's circumstances were not all that dire. She has a roof over her head, two parents that love her, friends, and so much more. Maybe she even has things you don't have. Your circumstances may be mounting up and crowding in on you. You may feel overwhelmed and without recourse or hope. 

Do not give up!  

God's mercy is new today! Just for you. 

Job lost everything. Every piece of livestock, every acre of land, his house, and every child. All of them were gone. He had reason to despair. He had reason to give up. Then he became ill. So ill his friends and wife were baffled by it all. Job was a righteous man. He had done good things all his life, including loving and serving God. Why did these horrible things happen? 

Because he was afraid they would, and the enemy hit Job in his most vulnerable area- his family. His friends questioned him. His wife begged him to curse God and die. To her, nothing could have been worse. She had lost hope. But not Job. 

Job had hope that the God who he had served so faithfully all his life, (the one who had kept and blessed him all those years) would again save him. 

"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him" 

Hope brings us alive. When we dream of the future, hope bubbles up like a fountain of life. When I think of the things God has done for me in the past, I know my future is  brighter than anything I could actually dream up. I have hope. 

What gives you hope? 

Why?

The Question We All Ask 

Why? Why me? Why not me? Why her? Why him? Why now? Why not now? We have all asked God the one question: why? Why do bad things happen to good people? 

I know I have. When the hurt of my parent’s divorce was too much, I would ask why. When my daughter got diagnosed with epilepsy I asked why. I know when parents lose children why is a question they have too. When we face loss or hardship “why” is the most often asked question. A close second would be, “if only”. 

Questioning God is okay. 

The Psalmist David did it and God called him a man after His own heart. We just can’t stay in that place of questioning. 

My pastor brought this subject up in our Wednesday night Bible Study and I want to share some of the things that were said, and some things I heard in my spirit when we were discussing this age old question “why?”. 

Psalm 13 For the music leader: a song of David.(CEB) 

1 How long will you forget me, Lord? Forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long will I be left to my own wits, agony filling my heart? Daily? 2 How long will my enemy keep defeating me? 3 Look at me! Answer me, Lord my God! Restore sight to my eyes! 4 Otherwise, I’ll sleep the sleep of death, and my enemy will say, “I won!” My foes will rejoice over my downfall. 5 But I have trusted in your faithful love. My heart will rejoice in your salvation. 6 Yes, I will sing to the Lord because he has been good to me. 

Sometimes when I read this passage or ones like it I wonder; was this man bipolar? He goes from despair to rejoicing so quickly, but then again don’t we all do this, just in the opposite order? I know I have gone from happy and rejoicing to despair in no time flat before. It doesn't mean I am bipolar, it means I am human. 

The Psalmist has it right here. 

We can question, (like he does in the first two verses) and we can petition (as he does in the second two verses) and then we need to remember how well taken care of by our Father we really are. We need to recall all the things He has done and rejoice in those things. 

First, we overcome by the blood of Jesus and the word of our testimony. Secondly, when we pray in faith, believing, then we ask and we receive. The answer is on the way, just believe. 

What if the answer is no? 

What then? You Stand. No one knows better than Jesus what it is like to hear “no” to a prayer. 

In the garden, before the soldiers came, Jesus prayed. With so much fervor that he bled drops of blood. He prayed this: Let there be another way to save the world, “Let this cup pass” from me. Thank God the Father said no! In saying no to Jesus God said yes to all of us! In that one “No” He made a way for salvation, healing and victory for everyone: through Jesus. 

God told Moses no when Moses asked permission to cross into the Promise Land. This is what God said: “…and the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.”

Sometimes, the answer is no. 

That is just the way it is. 

Being a Christian is not a solution to all your problems. We don’t have a wand to wave over our issues and they magically disappear just because we asked God for something. Trust in the Lord: voluntarily, not begrudgingly, faithfully, not here a little and there a little. 

It’s Raining NOW! 

So when trouble comes, and it will, (it rains on the just and the unjust) remember that our victory is in what Jesus did, not in whether or not we feel better after a prayer. 

Our victory is not in the immediate relief of our pain, but in the fact that we can petition God ourselves and no longer need intermediaries. 

Our victory is in the fact that Jesus already defeated Satan and all we have is a little time on this earth, and all our problems will go away and we will stand in heaven before the throne of God worshiping Him and reveling in His mercy and goodness. 

The Psalmist David did not have his answer yet. But he knew the answer was on the way. He began rejoicing, because he knew that despite what he faced in that moment, God was faithful. God had always answered before, and he trusted that the answer was on the way. 

Be Courageous. Ask why, but don’t forget to trust. God grants peace in the storm. 

Join the Conversation:  

Have you ever asked why before? Can you tell us about it? Leave a comment below.