When everything seems hopeless

I think we all have experienced times in our lives when things just seemed hopeless. Sometimes our situations feel so out of control and we can’t believe what is happening.

We can’t believe that our parent died at such a young age.
We can’t believe that our spouse walked out on us.
We can’t believe that we have just been diagnosed with cancer.
When we come to this point in our lives, it feels like there is no way past our problems. We’re convinced that life will never be the same again. We feel like there is no hope.

When we find ourselves in this place, we have to remember that we are not the first people who have ever felt this way. Millions of people throughout the ages have felt these exact same feelings.
Jesus’ disciples felt this way the day He was crucified.

Hope had died in the hearts of Jesus’ most loyal friends and followers the day He died on the cross. They felt more powerless, more hopeless than they had ever felt in their lives.

The problem was, the disciples were only seeing part of the message. “Christ defeated” was all they knew. But then on the third day the fog of disappointment and misunderstanding lifted, and they (and the world) received the complete message: “Christ defeated death!”

Defeat was turned into victory; death was turned into life! In a matter of hours, the disciples journeyed from hopeless to hope-filled. From powerless to powerful.
This is good news for all of us in who are in desperate need of hope today!

The problem is that everything that we hope in will one day eventually disappoint us. Every circumstance, every situation, every relationship we put our hope in is eventually going to wear out, fall apart, give out and go away.

This is why I can find hope in the midst of any crisis I may face. I can have hope when it feels like there is no reason to have hope.

I can have hope because my hope is based on a powerful, in-control God who can do and will do the impossible.

My hope is based on a God who has defeated death itself!

This same hope is available to you as well.

When everything seems hopeless we need to remember:

Even though life is uncertain, God is not. While our power is limited, God is limitless. He still has the whole world in his hands.

Your world may feel chaotic and hopeless right now but remember God is still in control!

Almighty God, Your Word says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" So I give You permission to search my heart and mind so that I can face my true anxieties about losing hope in what I mistakenly have confidence in. I want to put my hope in You LORD, for those who hope in the LORD shall renew their strength. They will soar like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint - thank You Father.