Has there ever been a moment or period in your life where you saw no way through or around something, where the issue left you mentally and physically exhausted, tired, worn out, and wondering if you’ll even make it through? Well, if you are moving and breathing then more than likely you’ve experienced this from one time or another: the human experience.
My question to you is, how did you make it through?
We’ve all endured hard, dark times that we may not have told another soul about – things we might have been ashamed to alert others about, when we had no hope, given up, or worse, forsaken God over. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t ever asked, “God where are you? Can you even change or bring me out of this dark situation where I can’t even see two inches in front of me?”
That had me questioning God, honestly. But the Bible reminds us sufferings produces a fruit within us:
“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5, ESV).
Another instance the Bible reminds us of this in 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (ESV) where Paul discusses our afflictions but urges us to remain steadfast so that we can showcase the glory of God – “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”
In all of these verses, there’s one common factor, hope. A hope in something greater than themselves to rescue and bring them out of whatever challenge they face.
Hope is that invisible rope of light that we’ve all clung to in dark periods of our lives at one time or another. It’s the very gift that God gives to all of us.
So my question to all of us is: where does our “Hope” reside? I feel like it’s easy to read a motivating Bible verse, get a good word from a family member or friend, or find other ways to motivate ourselves, but is it truly lasting? I believe it has to be personal. That’s why we constantly hear that our walks with Christ are individually personal. What I mean is we have to have strong, gripping faith in something to truly believe in it right? Otherwise we question it. We’ve all had a time where we’ve wrestled with God about situations or just needed his help, and I know he’s come through for each one of us in some fashion or another, whether we realize it or not. Only said individuals can speak to their own lives and experiences.
If you can gain only one thing from these words, I hope it’s this: the devil will try to use his devices (2 Corinthians 2:11) to strip away the gift/tool that God has bestowed upon us all, hope. My question to all of us is will we allow him to take away our weapon made to use against him and his ploys. He can’t take it, we can only give it up if we choose to. So the choice is ours. Do we place our trust and faith in everything that was created under the Sun, or place our hope and faith in the creator, God?
