“There is always hope. You just need to trust God.”
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes every time those words rolled off the tongue of a well-meaning friend. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe it was true. It was just that I didn’t know what it meant anymore.
You hear stories of relationships being healed and daddies coming home, but somehow my prayers were falling on deaf ears. For some reason, God said, “No.”
Had I missed the boat? Was there a closed door summit where they revealed the password to getting desperate prayers answered? Was there a secret handshake? A formula that I had forgotten to write down? Was God mad at me? Was I being punished?
I don’t pretend to have all the answers or even understand why. But, I do know this…the best view of hope is from a place called desperation. God will meet you there.
I realized I had a choice. Fall over the edge into the darkness of my reality or scratch and fight to hang on to hope. To stand on my tippy toes and see just past this struggle to the future that God has planned for me or hunker down in the darkness of today and just pray that it will pass.
Your road to hopelessness may look different but the destination is the same. We all feel hopeless at times. Whether it’s a failed marriage, a dead end job, a daily addiction or a wayward child.
Hopelessness is waiting in the wings ready to move in and take up permanent residence. At times, I have invited hopelessness in…but, lately I have been asking the unwelcome visitor to kindly move along.
You have a choice too: to trust the truth and look up or allow the lies to keep you face down in the dirt. I speak from experience. This old gal is still spitting dirt.
But, here’s what I know…
You are loved. Don’t listen to the lie that nobody cares. You are valued and loved more that you could ever know. John 3:16
God wants a relationship with you. For me, God took away all I ever wanted to show me the one thing I ever really had, Jesus. You are not alone, abandoned or forsaken. God is right there with you. Call out to Him.
God has a plan for you. Unfortunately, painful times are the way we learn about how much we need a Savior. My life doesn’t look at all like I thought it would.
But I am starting to see that it looks just like God’s plan. And, His plan is the best. So, I didn’t get my way. Part of the process is laying down my will and accepting His. Jeremiah 29:11
It is my prayer that you will grab hold of these basic truths and begin to get back up. Just think of my hand reaching out to you, right now. We will walk this journey together.
by Carol Davis
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What an awesome post and so very true!
I started writing an inspirational Blog, “Bowl of Inspiration” during my struggles to save my home. I have been so blessed…learning to trust COMPLETELY in the Lord and letting go of “things.”
I now hope to inspire others to do the same. Glad I found your blog!
Great post. In the first weeks when my 16 yr old son moved to Heaven, that’s all I knew. God loved me. I held on to that fact and did not let myself fall into the pit that was calling my name. What a horrible existance that would have been. Thank you Lord for your love and the Hope I have in You.
“The road to hopelessness.” What a great line. I don’t know one woman who hasn’t walked that road!
You are a true blessing for sharing your heart and allowing us to peek in to your struggle and find hope in our own.
Thanks for being transparent enough to let God shine through you.
Love ya,
Luann
How is it that just when I am in a hopeless state where I am feeling emotionally exhausted-apathetic, that God chooses you, His vessel, to speak such hopefulness?
I received some unsettling medical news yesterday and I immediately began to feel hopless, feeling as if there is nothing else to be done. I didn’t cry, yell, rant or rave. Instead, when I was asked how I felt I replied, “emotinally exhausted-apathetic.”
Of course I got a weird look, but I really feel as if I am just done. There’s nothing else I want to do. I’ll just go on day to day in hopelessness.
smooches,
Larie
Larie,
Thank you for your honesty. I have been ‘done’ even in the last couple of weeks. Not medically…but, emotionally. And what I have found is…that is exactly where God wants me. Completely out of resources to solve my own problem. That’s when I most heavily lean upon Him. So done is not such a bad thing. Done is a place of surrender…
Holding out hope to you….let’s walk together.
Dear Jesus…
Be with Larie. Comfort her as only you can. In our emotional, don’t care times of life, remind us that YOU care. You see us. You’ve not for one moment, turned your attention elsewhere. In your tender care, heal Larie emotionally…and physically…if its your will. If not, would you surround her with people who can be your hands and love her back to hope? Give her quiet moments to ‘be still’ and rest in your care.
Oh yeah…Jesus…I can’t wait to see how you blow our minds in Larie’s situation. You are amazing. I love you.
Amen.
You know… I found myself feeling hopeless during a struggle last year and sitting in the sanctuary it occurred to me that even though I had lost hope, God himself has a measure of hope he holds on my behalf. God hopes in each of us, just like we hope in our children. I asked God to hold that hope strong until I was ready to welcome it back into my heart and slowly I began to feel hope. When we don’t have the words, the Spirit intervenes on our behalf in prayer… and when we don’t have the hope, there is one who hopes for us as well.
Beautiful and inspiring. Thank you.
Amy
I can’t tell you how much I needed to hear/read/see this today. Thank you.
wow, you are speaking my life. i am heading over to visit your site!! thank you so much for sharing from your heart – your words are true,i am living them
Thank you so much for sharing with us from right where you are and speaking truth from that place. You are a woman of strength, courage, and HOPE.
Love your honesty, friend. I know that it’s going to be a lifeline to many women grasping for hope.
Amy
I love how this post gave me a refreshed perspective. thank you.
I agree that “hope” can sometimes be an empty, meaningless word unless we find the One in whom we can put our hope! Such a wonderful post! Thank you for sharing!
I have never felt hopelessness, and I am starting to realize that I am a miniscule minority. I think it is probably the result of surviving some pretty terrible things by fighting back — I have a bit of a tiger spirit. Corner me and find out! Much, much later, after a very late conversion, I realize that somehow in a part of my mind that I did not even know existed had to have been a connection to God, who clearly has watched over me every day of my life and pulled me out of some life-threatening and sanity-threatening situations without my being aware of it. I was just aware that one nasty or exciting adventure was over and another was showing up. Much more recently, I have had the luxury of being able to go back and analyze those experiences and find God’s imprint in them all. Because of that, though, my trust is naively complete. I guess I don’t know how I would react if it were broken — but I am fortunate, I suppose, in that it has never been broken. It is good that you share your reaction and thoughts about situations where it seems that it has been and that you have remained strong in spite of what seems like abandonment. God bless you.
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