Never Lose Hope

Have you felt like giving up lately? Difficult circumstances, inner turmoil, relational problems, unanswered prayer and so on can effect us badly and make us lose hope. If we are not careful we can find ourselves giving up .

The worst thing that can happen to us is to turn away from God (maybe even subtly) instead of sincerely turning to Him again and again in prayer. The Scripture equates being ‘without God in this world’ with being ‘without hope’ (Eph 2:12).

On the other hand living in His love and truth opens us up to a different reality altogether:

May the God of hope fill you all with joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:13).

No one  has fallen so grievously that he may not hope and rise again with the grace and mercy of God. No pit of trouble is so deep that His love is not deeper still. No inner turmoil is so ‘stormy’ that Jesus cannot calm it. We always need to hope. As G.K Chesterton says: Hope means hoping when things are hopeless.

This hope is not the same as merely being an optimist or trying to get yourself to think positively. It is rooted in trusting the God who loves us, cares for us and will show us the way if only we turn to Him always and wholeheartedly. This is why the Bible is so important for us Christians. Of course we also need to remember that the Lord will minister to us through the help, prayer, encouragement and godly wisdom of others.

So why not hear these words from the Psalms today and make them your own or pass them on to someone who you know may need to hear them:

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.  (Psa. 43:5) I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope … O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is generous redemption  (Psa. 130:7).

Never lose hope.