Are you hopeless?

A friend shared this past week that he was going through a difficult time. He had been struggling. And which of us has not had moments like that?  

I have. Each of our eight children have.

This is where I appreciate God’s Word. There is really no book in the world, apart from the Bible, that is more up front about the inevitability of suffering, and the hardness of life.  

Scripture doesn’t ignore suffering. Neither does it tell us that we simply need to “Suck it up!” when life gets challenging.  Rather, God engages us about the reality of suffering, because suffering shakes our faith.

Which brings us to a verse in the Bible that has been personally helpful in such times.  In Psalm 42, we run into an individual who is obviously struggling.  

We don’t know the name of the writer of Psalm 42. But we can relate to his circumstances when he says in verse 3, “My tears have been my food day and night.”  

If that wasn’t bad enough, while they are feeling down and out, not-so-helpful friends are saying to the writer, “So, where is your God now?”  And to tell the truth, we might wonder if God has forsaken us when times get hard.

But then a Bible verse that is worth putting to memory. In Psalm 42:5, this hurting Psalm writer says, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God! For I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.”

That is amazing insight! 

On the one hand, the writer acknowledges that he is going through a challenging time.  When he looks inside himself or at life’s circumstances, he sees nothing but turmoil, chaos, and desperation. And when we look inside ourselves or at what we are facing in life, we also find little reason to hope.  

But then the writer applies the medicine. “Hope in God! For I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.” 

True hope is found when we stop looking inside ourselves and at our circumstances, and turn to looking outside of ourselves to the God of all hope and strength.  

It is the God of the Bible who is the source of hope and deliverance, forgiveness and grace. It is Jesus who paid for all our wrongs on the cross, and conquered the power of death by rising from the dead after three days.  

If our God can raise Jesus from the dead, what do you suppose the odds are, that the Lord has the power to get you through your dark hour?   

What is the Bible except a book of example after example of how God has been faithful to individuals and has given strength to the suffering?

There’s no storm that God can’t carry you through. In fact, God has an amazing way of using storms to teach us to trust Him more fully.

There’s good reason that the writer of Psalm 42, says the same thing twice in a short Psalm of just 11 verses. It’s worth remembering:

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?  

Hope in God! For I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.”   

Psalm 42:5, 11