I’ve got it. I absolutely have the answer to where you can find hope in the middle of your hopeless situation.
Let’s back up a minute first, though.
I’ve been hopeless before. I’ve felt like there was no way, no help, no solution, no answer, no hope.
And even if I thought there might eventually be relief, help, a light at the end of the tunnel, I still felt hopeless because all of that seemed an awful long ways off. Like on the other side of eternity, long ways off. Know what I mean?
I know some dear friends who could use a little hope these days. I know of so many people who are in and out of the doctor’s office or even the hospital lately. And I know of marriages that are pulling at the seams. And I know of parents who are at their wits’ end. And I know of employees who are losing their jobs…even as I write. And I know of grown children who are hundreds of miles from their hurting parents and cannot go to them. I know, and you know, people who are hurting…and feel hopeless.
Maybe you’re in that number today. Maybe you even know the truth, but you feel hopeless. I’ve been there.
But today God showed me the answer to our hopelessness in His Word. He’s so good to do that!
It’s only fitting that I found it in the book of Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah’s lament of woe and doom. He, too, felt helpless, hopeless. He says in Lamentations 3:17-20:
And my soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness. So I say, “My strength has perished, and so has my hope from the Lord.” Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness. Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me.
Hopeless. No hope. Even this man of God, this divinely appointed prophet, this truth-bearer…felt hopeless.
And yet… Jeremiah breaks through to hope…
This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness. The “Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore, I have hope in Him.” (Lamentations 3:21-24)
Make sure you get this…
Jeremiah didn’t see God’s faithfulness morning by morning, necessarily. But he knew of it. And He didn’t feel God’s compassion necessarily at that moment. But he chose to count on it.
Jeremiah chose to “recall to mind” the truth, and therefore, he had hope.
What do you need to “recall to mind” today so that you, too, may have hope again? Let me suggest you recall to mind:
- God’s past victories in your life.
- God’s faithfulness to walk with you previously.
- God’s promises, which never fail.
- God’s timing, which is always perfect.
- the last crisis you made it through, by the grace of God.
- the answers to prayers you have experienced.
- God’s goodness.
- God’s faithfulness.
- God’s mercies, which are indeed new every morning, whether you feel them or see them…or not.
Can I pray for you today? I know how it feels to desperately need hope. If you’d like for me to pray for a specific “hopeless situation” in your life, please email me here. It would be my honor.
I would like for you to pray for my mother, Donna. She is having her hip replaced on Wednesday. She is extremely nervous. My mother is a Christian. Please agree with me in prayer for the surgery to be successful and for a speedy recovery. And agree with me for God to strengthen and encourage my mother, and send her peace. Thank you. Bless you for praying.
I'm pausing to pray for your mother right now. I will pray for her to have strength and courage, and for God to give her a peace that overwhelms her soul! Blessings sweet friend!
Thanks for this Kay. You always know just the right things to say. I think I wake up with hope every morning but end up going to bed at night feeling defeated. I know this to shall pass…. At least it better! 😉
I love that scripture from Lamentations. Funny that just today I was putting it in a guest post I'm writing for another blog! That is a great list you have of things we can call to mind.