Hope and sorrow

There’s nothing more depressing that an ER waiting room. The expressions on people’s faces are sorrowful and broken. Pain and tears fill the already tense room whre the atmosphere is impersonal and cold. Lights glare, the plastic chairs are hard, the blaring sirens seem to never cease. We can do nothing to make things beter but wait… and pray.

One of the most difficult things to do is to be strong through tough times even when you don’t feel like it. At times like this we must focus our thought on God and ask Him to strengthen us.

Psalms 31-24- Be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye who hope in the Lord.

This is one of my favorite verses because I, for one, have seen the truth in it many times over the years when my hope was on the verge of failing. (This is also the verse we chose as a theme verse for Hopeworks)

In Psalms 42:5 , 42:11 and 43:5 David asked himself why he was so sad and downcast. And everytime his answer to his sadness was to hope in God and praise Him.

This is very difficult to do but we must. We will feel more hopeful if we take our eyes off ourselves and our misery and focus on giving him thanks and praise instead. God’s hand is in the situation. We may not see that while we are doing poorly but this is His promise.

1Peter 5:10- And the Lord of all grace , who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Revelation 7:17- And God will wipe away every tear from your eyes.

Revelation 21:4- He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more deaths or mourning or crying or pain.

Praise the Lord!! What comforting promises.

Hope is our Anchor

“…we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.  We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”   Hebrew 6:18-19

We all need something to hold us steady when life gets a bit “shaky.”  We need a firm foundation to keep us anchored.  That is why we cling to hope.  It helps us to persevere and continue business as usual.  It keeps us from getting derailed when storms come crashing and tearing our hearts apart. 

James 1:6 says that he who doubts is tossed about like the waves of the sea. This happens as we let it take over our minds, but hope stabilizes our emotions. 

Hebrew 10:23 tells us to hold tightly to the hope that is ours because we can trust Christ’s promises.

The Lord is our hope and our anchor.  Their is a firm foundation in which to put your faith and hope.

Psalm 18-2- The Lord is my rock and my fortress, and my deliever; my God is my refuge in whom take refuge.

So hold fast to the Anchor and He will see you through.

ON crisis and opportunity

Life is a mix of trials of blessings and trials. Although we prefer the blessings our trials can be used as opportunities for learning and growth. The Chinese word for crisis means both opportunity and danger. It is a crisis because we feel threatened and overwhelmed. At the same time it is an opportunity for us to grow.

When trials or crisis arise we often wonder if God is present or if he has abandoned us. It may feel like our tears don’t matter to Him or that he doesn’t hear our cries at all. He is concerned about all aspects of our lives. He just waits for us to ask for his help.

God is not the initiator of our troubles, but when they come He desires to turn our crisis into good. He wants to use the situation for the purposes of his glory.

Hebrew 13:15- “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you…”

Romans 8:38- “I am convinced that nothing can ever seperate us from His love; death can’t and life can’t. The angels can’t and demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries for tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away…”

Psalms 34:18- “The Lord is close to those who heart is breaking; He rescues those who are humbly sorry for their sins….”

Crisis are often painful, but if we couldn’t feel pain we would not be able to feel joy. Pain adds meaning and depth to our lives. God uses it to enrich our lives and draw us closer to Him.

Hanging on to hope

We all need to hang onto hope. The hope we carry in our hearts is what makes us persevere. Although sometimes it seems impossible to find hope in times of suffering Paul said this is what builds perserverance.

Romans 5:2-5
We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perserverance; perseverance, character, and hope. And hope does not dissapoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

Hebrew 10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on through love and good deeds.

Roman 15:13
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may over flow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So hang onto hope and encourage one another

On Psalm 6

The piece below is quoted from “The Encouragement Bible” and is written by Jan Dravecky.  I thought it was so good I decided to share it.

“If you have ever been depressed, you know the symptoms: faintness of heart, agony of body, anguish of soul, weariness from groaning, a pillow stained with tears, eyes weak from sorrow…

Have you ever been there before? I have.  I have felt many of the same symptoms that David describes in Psalm 6. Here was a man after God’s own heart.  Israel’s most illustrious king, a giant killer from his youth– yet here was a man given to depression…David’s battle with depression was recorded for all time in God’s word (Read Psalms 6), demonstrates that the Lord understands our weakness.   He want us to know we can come out all right!

David shows us not only that difficult times come to us all, but that we can approach God boldly and tell him just how difficult things are…

His yoke is easy

Life easily overwhelms.

We may wish for easier days and easier ways of doing things.  Sometimes our spirits drag as our we go through things that seem to have no end.  We may feel a host of unwanted emotions.  Anger, fear, lack of confidence and depression are just a few of the feelings that wash over us.   During these times we can go to Jesus and unload our baggage.  We can express our deepest emotions and be confident that He will give us strength.

 

Matthew 11: 28-29

Come to me, all ye who are weary and burdened, and will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Reaching for hope (Psalm 42)

During hardships we tend to comfort ourselves by remembering the “good old days” reaching for hope, but wavering to depression.

The psalmist writes:

These things I remember

as I pour out my soul:

how I used to go with the multitude,

leading the procession to the house

of God,

with shouts of joy and thanksgiving

among all the festive throng.

Why are you so downcast, “O my soul?”

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will praise him,

my Savior and my God.

My soul is downcast within me

therefore I will remember you…

Deep calls to deep

in the roar of your waterfalls,

all your waves and breakers

have swept over me.

By day the Lord directs his love,

at night his song is with me–

a prayer to the God of my life.

I say to God my Rock,

Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go about mourning,

oppresssed by my enemy?

My bones suffer mortal agony

as my foes taunt me

saying to me all day long,

“Where is your God?”

Why are you so downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me

Put your hope in God

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and God.

(Psalms 42: 4-11)

Notice how the psalmist’s mood improved when he cried out to God.  He chose to focus on giving him praise even in his dark times.  If we too will focus on such things we will find final strength.

 

On worry and waiting

Worry is one of the easiest traps we fall into.  We turn things over and over in our minds to get an idea of how to get a handle on a given situation.  When we start worrying each worry feeds on the preceeding one and soon we are on a runaway train to misery.  We don’t want to feel out of control and so we worry about how to get control.  The irony is that our maintaining control behavior leaves us more and more out of control. We act impulsively to “fix” things instead of turning to God and relying on Him.  God’s wisdom is there for you.

Matthew 6:25- 33 says,

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by arguing can add a single day to his life.  And why do you worry about clothes?  See how the lilies of the field grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his spendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the frass of hte field, which is here today and tommorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?  … But seek first  His Kingdom and His righteousness ad all these things will be given to you aas well.  Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrrow will worry about itself. Each day has enought trouble of its own.”

Worrying is hard for me.  It is a constant struggle for me.  At times worrying almost has a seductive lure  to it.  The words above always help me.  I ask the Lord for patience and to help me surrender my will to His.  That is when I have the most peace.  Acceptance can be so hard.  Trust is so hard.  But by accepting my own fear and God’s love for me I find the peace He offers.

Isaiah 40: 31 says,

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

to be continued….