Read very far into my blog and you’ll know what I believe. That no matter what kind of hopeless situation you find yourself in, there is hope!
No matter what kind of hopeless situation you find yourself in, there is hope! Share on X
That may sound a bit simplistic and out of touch with reality for some. But it is truth!
Now if I told you to have hope because I’m here…
or to have hope because science is continually making medical advances…
or to have hope because you live in America…
now that would be simplistic and totally off base.
After all my offerings are limited, as is everyone’s. That is, except for the Lord’s.
Reason to Hope
We always have reason to hope because of who our God is. His very nature begs us to trust in Him for that hope. Share on X
We always have reason to hope because of who our God is. His very nature begs us to trust in Him for that hope. Check out this partial list of His attributes!
First, He loves us. I know this because no one would willingly give up His beloved Son to be tortured and killed for others if He didn’t love those “others” immensely. Also He tells us he loves us—often—and shows it in numerous ways.
Second, He is good. His goodness spills over to us.
Third, He is faithful. He will never leave us.
Fourth, He is merciful. His mercies appear new every day, offering forgiveness over and over.
Fifth, He is sovereign. He has full authority over everything in creation.
Sixth, He is immutable. He does not change, ever!
Seventh, He is holy. Sinless and blameless.
Eighth, ninth, and tenth, He is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (all-present), and omnipotent (all-powerful).
This is our Lord! The One who hung the moon and stars. The One who placed the celestial bodies in motion.
The One who tells the wind when to blow and the clouds when to pour forth their rain.
The very One who breathed life into dust to make man. The same One who formed woman out of the man’s rib.
El Elyon, God Most High, is the God who has defeated death so we will live forever — the very foundation of our hope!
Account after account, we see His attributes in action in the Bible. Day after day, I realize those attributes in action in my own life.
I’m in awe at His fierce love for us!
Foolishness?
Yes, it’s tempting to think placing our hope in a God we cannot see is foolish. Especially since we have the knowledge to do great and wonderful things.
We can send men to the moon and transplant human hearts after all!
So we dance around this life thinking we have such control, thinking we can conquer all that comes our way. Until we come face to face with the reality of our smallness.
Placing our trust in the One who created us and loves us and wants a relationship with us isn’t foolish.
The foolishness I see is believing our wonderful advances can save us from a foe who would like nothing more than to damn us forever.
Foolishness is trusting our accomplishments, no matter how great they seem, to protect us against an enemy set out to destroy us.
The reason to hold onto hope in the hopeless has nothing to do with us and everything to do with God.
Ultimate Prize
We lose hope because we fail to see that the real battle is a spiritual one. We become hopeless when we try to fight a spiritual battle with temporal weapons.
Our hope rests eternal in the Lord. We can count on Him to do battle for us.
He will and He does fight for us—until that glorious day when the war comes to a final and everlasting end! That day when we realize the ultimate prize of our faith.
Until then, let’s remind each other, in the midst of our suffering, that we have every reason to hope.
Let’s remind each other that we can trust our Creator to be our Savior as well.
In the midst of our suffering, we have every reason to hope. We can trust our Creator to be our Savior as well. Share on X
“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!” Psalm 8:3-5
Reflections: When do you feel the most hopeless? During those situations, what’s one thing you can do to shift your focus from placing a feeble hope in something temporal to a secure hope in the intense love of the Lord?
I am always thrilled to link up with Suzie Eller for #livefreeThursday and this week’s prompt, “shadow boxing.” Click on the image to check out the wonderful encouragment.
By His Grace,
Julie
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Hello, I'm Julie, an imperfect wife and mother of four. Life in this broken world is not always easy. Yet, joy can be found in each day through the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I find it's easy for our day's blessings to get lost in its happenings. But God's "mercies never end" (Lamentations 3:22) and His "grace is sufficient" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
May the posts and pages on this site offer you a measure of peace and encouragement.
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I totally agree, there is always a reason for hope, whatever situation we are in. I love how you list the reasons for hope we have in God- and I’m glad we can have hope in him and not in ourselves. It is foolish to think we can win the battle in our own strength. Great reminder to look to him in everything and remember that he fights for us. Visting from #LiveFreeThursday.
Glad to have you visit, Carly! Blessings.
Julie: What you say is so very true. I have a friend who will be going through a tough time on Sunday (Feb.14.) Last year, her daughter went through major surgery to remove a tumor from her brain. Last November, the little girl passed through the gates of heaven. Please pray for this mother. She clung to the hope that God would heal her daughter and yet, God chose to take the girl home, instead.
I remember praying for this mother last year, Cecelia, and would be glad to do so again. In the face of such loss, it is understandable that she would question. Praying she can hold onto His strength, knowing He is all-knowing and all-good, even when prayers are answered differently than we’d hoped.