Hopelessness, anxiety and depression are such realities in our day and age. The use of anti-depressants, worldwide, is increasing and many people live lives barren of hope.
Barrenness: the inability to bring forth life.
Barrenness of hope: the inability to find HOPE and the life it brings.
A few years ago, I was struggling to find hope. It just seemed like the waves of life, disappointments, etc. actually hit so close together that I felt I could not come up for air quickly enough and I was drowning. I knew I only have One lifeline – and that is God. I tried other lifejackets and, frankly, they sink with you! So, I did what I knew to do: I cried out to God, my faithful rescuer!
His answer to my cry was this:
Liesl, HOPE has a name: His name is JESUS!
Most Christians know this verse:
Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV):
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
I recently realised that this scripture can be seen from an angle different to what I had been seeing it for years. To me, this scripture always meant that I needed to hope, that what I hoped for I would get because that is what faith is. I recently started looking at it a bit differently – faith is the substance… faith is the substance…. Then it dawned on me that in order to have HOPE, I need faith first. If faith is the substance of HOPE, then it means I need faith in order to have hope.
If chocolate is the substance of brownies, then I need chocolate to have brownies. Chocolate is the substance that the brownies is made of. The better the chocolate, the better the brownies!
If I am in need of hope, it means I am actually in need of faith. What is faith, then? Faith is to trust my God, as portrayed by Jesus in everything He did on earth and afterwards. So, Jesus is the HOPE, and I can only access Jesus and the Father if I have faith.
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV):
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. We need to believe God is and that He is the rewarder of all who seek Him – every time, not just sometimes.
My prayer and focus changed. When the waves of hopelessness hit, I did not ask for hope; I asked for faith – faith to boldly go into my Father’s throne room, faith to believe what He says is true:
• I am welcome in the throne room (Heb 4:16 [NKJV]: Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.)
• I will get mercy and grace there (Heb 4:16)
• What I get there WILL strengthen and empower me. Phil 4:13
• It will all work out well (Rom 8:28) because I do love God and I am called by His purposes
When I am there, I meet HOPE every single time. HE meets me there, HE strengthens me, and HE leaves me expectant of good.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NKJV):
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Hope has a name. We need to meet with the source of HOPE – Jesus. We need to allow Him to download His Hope into us; actually, we need it to overflow. We need to swop our heaviness, and the burdens that drag us down and ensnare us (Heb 12:1-2), for His burden that is easy and light (Matt 11:30).
If you need HOPE, go into your secret place, a place where it is only you, God and the throne room. Do a divine exchange: give Him your burdens and fears, disappointments and anxieties, and allow Him to give you His Hope – His Son, Jesus, whose burden is so light. Boldly go in faith, knowing He will meet you there, because He is faithful. Go with all your heart, allow Him to touch you and let Hope spring forth like a burst of sunshine on a cloudy day, warming you with comfort.
Love
Liesl
Women of Reverence welcomes Liesl Mare our regular contributor.
Read Liesl' bio here.