Hope When Life Seems Hopeless
Long months of COVID-19, isolation, and a diet of gloomy news, accompanied by loss of lifestyle and loved ones have led to more depression and suicide. Short days, dark, gloomy weather and cultural chaos add to the load.
How do you maintain a positive attitude in such a time? Where do you find hope when life is out of control and everything seems hopeless?
Recently, I asked the Lord for a word and sensed that He said, “Hope.” I’d like to share some insights I found as I searched Scripture to learn what God said about hope. I trust His Word will encourage, comfort, and strengthen your hope as it has mine. (Note: all emphases in quotes are added.)
Hope is a gift from God:
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word” (2 Thess. 2:16-17).
Reasons to hope:
- For salvation and eternal life available through Jesus Christ:
“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Tit. 3:5-7).
2. For comfort through the Word
“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4).
3. For His Calling and our inheritance in Him
“For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you, . . . I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, (Eph. 1:15-18).
4. In the glorious appearance of the second coming
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Tit. 2:11-13).
5. In the Lord
“We give thanks to God always for all of you, . . . constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father” (1 Thess. 1:2-3).
In summary, we have abiding hope in the Lord Jesus Christ and in our heritage through Him. He is good, faithful, loving, true, and eternal. All else is fleeting.
Hopelessness:
We learn in Proverbs 13:12 that “Hope deferred makes the heart sick; ….” and in Isaiah 38:18 that, “they that go down into the pit, cannot hope for thy truth.” When we are without hope, our heart, our soul is sick. It is as if we’re stuck in a pit, surrounded by a thick, dark cloud that blinds us to God’s truth.
Depression and hopelessness can even afflict men of great faith. Elijah, after demonstrating God’s greatness, is one example (1 Kings 18:1-19:10). Also David, who penned Psalms of praise, painted a picture of his hopelessness saying, “Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also” (Ps. 31:9). (Psalm 31:1-24)
David continues with:
- a list of his troubles,
- a statement of faith,
- supplications for his needs,
- then declarations of the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness.
- He closes with “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the Lord” (Ps. 31:24).
David shows us how to move out of depression and hopelessness and into a place of hope and faith. He was in the pit, with eyes wasted away, unable to see truth. While in the pit, he shared his troubles with the Lord, being honest about the troubles and fears that entrapped him.
Then, he chooses to trust God in the midst of his problems. He made a declarative statement, “But as for me, I trust in Thee, O Lord, I say, “Thou art my God.” (Ps. 31:14), and he continues with his supplications and with statements of the Lord’s goodness. His faith builds as his focus moves from himself and his challenges and turns toward the faithfulness of God. (Psalm 31:1-24)
David’s hope grows as he turns his gaze on the Lord and his rich inheritance in the Lord, rather than looking with his natural eyes at the situation around him. The same is true for us. Indeed, our only true hope is in the Lord and His promises to those who believe in Him and are called by Him.
When we sink into the pit of hopelessness, are we truly without hope? Or does life look bleak simply because we’re looking in the wrong direction?
“This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore I hope in Him. It is good for a man to both hope and quietly wait for the Lord” (Lam 3:21, 24).
“In Thee, O Lord, do I hope; Thou will hear, O Lord my God” (Ps 38:15).
“Hold onto hope until the end” (Heb 3:6; 6:11).
“The eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him upon them that hope in His mercy. O Lord, be upon us according as we hope in Thee” (Ps. 3:18).
“Happy is he that has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God” (Ps, 146:15).
“Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is” (Jer. 17:7).
“We are saved by hope . . .. But if we hope for that we do not see, then we wait for it with patience” (Rom 8:24).
“Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord” (Ps. 27:14).
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your heart in every good work and word” (2 Thess. 2:16-17).