The God of Hope And Surviving Dark Times

Sometimes life gets heavy. Situations get complex. Stress hits. A stressful relationship situation at home, stress at work due to timelines or politics, stress from fear of failure or due to health issues or a sudden death – there are all kinds of situations that can bring stress and sorrow into your life. These times can really bring upon us the weight of the flesh. These storms have the potential to toss us around and tear us apart.

Image courtesy of: Pat McDonald

It’s easy to sit on the side and say to someone else, “oh, have faith”. But like Proverbs 25:20 says, “Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on a wound, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.” The last thing someone wants to hear when they are suffering is someone singing a song that is like, “what a great day it is today, everything is going my way.”

When life gets real, you want someone to talk to who has been there, who has faced this before. Why? Because they can relate to what you are going through. They have been, there, done that, and survived. Why do we crave this? Because this gives us hope. We can hope that we can make it through because they did it. Sometimes you can find someone who has been through something similar.

But what happens when we cannot find someone who has been through what we are going through? Where then is our hope? That’s when we find ourselves upstream without a paddle. When we rely solely on man, and not on God, that is when we get into trouble. It is great to have friends and colleagues who can guide us. God puts them into our lives for that purpose. But ultimately we need to put our hope in God.

Scripture: 
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 15:13

Observation/Application: 
Putting our hope in God and God alone is how we can weather any storm. We can go through anything and everything that life decides to throw at us. And when our faith is strong, we can do this and at the same time have hope and peace and joy as we trust in God. Today’s scripture goes on to explain that we will overflow with hope. That doesn’t mean that we will have just a bit of hope, we can barely hope, we can barely hold on. Paul says that we will be overflowing. We will have so much hope that we cannot contain it.

We get this overflowing hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. I came across a great example of someone in modern times who was filled with hope in the darkest of circumstances, someone who was diagnosed and dying of cancer. It was Jeremy Camp’s wife. There is a short 7 minute video on YouTube that you can watch. I think it is totally inspiring and representative of the power of the Holy Spirit and how God wins in all circumstances, even when facing death and the grave. Link included HERE.

Have a great day. May you be encouraged and filled with hope, in all circumstances!

#We-Set-Our-Hope-On-You-Lord-God

Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your Word today. Thank you for giving me another day to walk this earth, to breath, to learn, to grow, and to do my very best to walk in Your Presence. Keep me close to You all throughout the day. Fill my heart with your goodness. Give me the mind of Christ. Fill me with your peace and joy, love and hope, in Jesus mighty name. Amen. 

Today’s full reading: Proverbs 25-27; Romans 15

Scripture References From Today’s Reflection:  

• “Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on a wound, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.” – Proverbs 25:20
• “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6
• “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:13
• “We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.” – Psalm 33:20-22

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